North Korea breaks pledge to denuclearize

Reuters - North Korea is continuing to produce fissile material for nuclear bombs in spite of its pledge to denuclearize, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday (July 25). Asked at a Senate committee hearing whether this was the case, Pompeo responded to Democratic Senator Ed Markey by saying: "Yes, that's correct ... Yes, they continue to produce fissile material." Pompeo declined to respond when asked whether North Korea was continuing to pursue submarine-launched ballistic missiles or whether North Korea's nuclear program was advancing generally. Pompeo said he would be happy to answer the latter question if necessary in a classified setting but suggested public statements on the issue would not help "a complex negotiation with a difficult adversary."