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North Korea's Kim cites own children as reason to give up nukes: ex-CIA official

14:30, Saturday, 23 February, 2019
North Korea's Kim cites own children as reason to give up nukes: ex-CIA official

A former top CIA officer who took part in several meetings with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has said that Kim had voiced his sincerity to U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo about giving up his nuclear weapons by citing the burden that they would be for his children, media reports said Friday.

Andrew Kim, who was head of the CIA’s Korea Mission Center and who helped bring about the June meeting in Singapore between U.S. President Donald Trump and the young North Korean leader, told the story during a speech at Stanford University on Friday.

Trump and Kim Jong Un are scheduled to meet for their second summit on Feb. 27-28 in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency and The Wall Street Journal both reported that the North Korean leader had made the comments during a visit to Pyongyang last April by Pompeo and others, including Andrew Kim.

When pressed by Pompeo if he is truly willing to abandon his nuclear program, Andrew Kim said the North Korean leader responded: ” ‘I’m a father and a husband. And I have children. And I don’t want my children to carry the nuclear weapon on their back their whole life.’ That was his answer.”

Kim Jong Un is believed to have three children, although this has never been confirmed.

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