US to lift sanctions if N Korea nuclear programme dismantled – Pompeo

US secretary of state Mike Pompeo said on Sunday that Washington will agree to lift sanctions on North Korea if the country agrees to completely dismantle its nuclear weapons programme, a move that would create economic prosperity to "rival" South Korea.

Speaking on several Sunday morning talk shows, Mr Pompeo said the US would not be willing to invest taxpayer dollars to help the country, but was willing to “lift sanctions” to pave the way for private American investment in North Korea’s energy, agriculture and infrastructure sectors.

Mr Pompeo's comments come ahead of a planned June 12th meeting in Singapore between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and President Donald Trump, the first such meeting between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader.

“What Chairman Kim will get from America is our finest – our entrepreneurs, our risk-takers, our capital providers...They will get private capital that comes in. North Korea is desperately in need of energy...for their people. They are in great need of agricultural equipment and technology,” he said on CBS’s Face the Nation.

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“We can create conditions for real economic prosperity for the North Korean people that will rival that of the South,” he added.

North Korean state media reported over the weekend that the country has scheduled the dismantlement of its nuclear bomb site for later in May.

Mr Pompeo welcomed the news of those plans.

“Every single site that the North Koreans have that can inflict risk on the American people that is destroyed, eliminated, dismantled, is good news for the American people and for the world,” he said on Fox News Sunday.

Trump meeting

Last month, Mr Pompeo became the first US official known to have met with Mr Kim, where he helped to lay the ground work for the upcoming meeting with Mr Trump.

He returned again to North Korea last week for a second meeting, after which Mr Kim agreed to the historic release of three US prisoners.

"The prospect for North Korea is for it to become a normal nation, to behave and interact with the rest of the world the way South Korea does," White House national security adviser John Bolton said on CNN's State of the Union on Sunday, adding that prospects for the country are "unbelievably strong" if it follows through on its commitment.

Mr Pompeo, meanwhile, also spoke of what it was like to meet Kim, whom few Americans have interacted with personally.

“The conversations are professional,” he said on Fox News Sunday. “He does follow the western press. He’ll probably watch this show at some point.” – Reuters