A pro-North Korea newspaper said Friday that the recent dismissal of John Bolton as the US national security advisor was a "good thing," but voiced concerns over Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, calling him a "destabilizing factor" that could undercut Washington's diplomacy with Pyongyang.
North Korea has long denounced Bolton and Pompeo for their hawkish views on its regime that it sees as hampering denuclearization talks. It earlier called Bolton a "security-destroying adviser" and "human defect," while dismissing Pompeo as the "the diehard toxin of the US diplomacy."
US President Donald Trump fired Bolton last week following disagreements on a number of policies, including how to denuclearize North Korea.
(Yonhap)
The Choson Sinbo, a pro-North Korea paper, said in a column that the dismissal of Bolton was a matter of time for "the very person who is responsible for" the breakdown of the February summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi.
"It is a good thing that President Trump got rid of him in respect of the North's opinion, but at the White House, the destabilizing factor of Secretary of State Pompeo remains," it said, warning that Pompeo, too, could face a similar fate if he crosses the president.
The paper also said that it is "extremely rare" to find a diplomatic expert, such as Bolton, "who is rejected and abhorred from inside and out of the country," and that Trump is widely expected to more easily carry out diplomatic activities as he wishes now that Bolton is gone.
Bolton's firing came as the US and North Korea are gearing up to resume their nuclear negotiation after months of a stalemate.
Last week, North Korea's First Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui said the North is willing to sit down with the US in late September, urging Washington to come up with a new "calculation method" acceptable to Pyongyang. (Yonhap)
