Mike Pompeo’s ‘PVID’ statement not at issue, South Korea says

May 8 (UPI) — There is no dispute between U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Seoul regarding the expressions used to describe North Korea’s denuclearization process, South Korea’s foreign minister said Tuesday.

Kang Kyung-hwa told local network KBS Pompeo’s use of the term PVID or “permanent, verifiable, irreversible dismantlement” was not distinct from the U.S. and South Korea agreement on CVID, or complete, verifiable, irreversible dismantlement.

Pompeo’s statement reflects a “willingness to solve fundamental problems,” Kang said.

South Korea’s top diplomat added the term CVID is used in United Nations Security Council resolutions.

Pompeo’s remarks were made last Wednesday, during his swearing-in ceremony at the State Department.

“We are committed to the permanent, verifiable, irreversible dismantling of North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction program, and to do so without delay,” Pompeo said.

South Korean news service Seoul Pyongyang News reported Seoul’s foreign ministry spokesman Noh Gyu-duk said at a regular press briefing there is “no difference” between the two terms, CVID and PVID.

Local reporters asked whether Pompeo’s term, PVID, and the word “permanent,” can also be equated to “complete” denuclearization.

Noh said the term “complete” denuclearization, used in the inter-Korea Panmunjom Declaration signed in April, encompasses “a great number of factors.”

South Korean newspaper Hankyoreh reported there are concerns Pompeo’s use of the term connoted a hard-line U.S. position on the issue.

Newsis reported Seoul’s Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Lee Do-hoon is to meet with U.S. officials in Washington Wednesday to Saturday, including with White House National Security Council senior director for Asian affairs Matthew Pottinger, and Susan Thornton, acting U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs.