Top News Pompeo Plans North Korea Trip Next Month After Meeting Kim Aide Bloomberg Pompeo Hails Talks With North Korea but Says Sanctions Must Continue New York Times Netanyahu, in U.N. speech, claims secret Iranian nuclear site Reuters East Asia U.S. nuclear expert hails N.K. offer to close Yongbyon nuke complex as ‘remarkable’ Yonhap9/27/2018 Siegfried S. Hecker, a renowned U.S. nuclear scientist, hailed North Korea’s recent conditional offer to shut down its main Yongbyon nuclear complex as “remarkable,” despite skepticism that the closure may do little to contribute to its eventual disarmament. North Korea Fault Lines Exposed at UN Security Council Meeting Bloomberg9/27/2018 The divide over the future of North Korean sanctions dominated a United Nations Security Council meeting on Thursday just a few weeks before America’s top diplomat visits Pyongyang to press the country’s leaders for swifter progress toward denuclearization. Pompeo Hails Talks With North Korea but Says Sanctions Must Continue New York Times9/27/2018 Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Thursday that the world is at “the dawn of a new day” in confronting the threat posed by North Korea’s weapons programs but that sanctions against the country must continue for now. U.S., Russia Clash at U.N. as Lavrov Calls for Easing of North Korea Sanctions Wall Street Journal9/27/2018 The Trump administration worked to move ahead on its top diplomatic priority—the denuclearization of North Korea—but ran head-on into opposition to its plans from Russia, which called for the easing of United Nations sanctions against Pyongyang. Pompeo Plans North Korea Trip Next Month After Meeting Kim Aide Bloomberg9/26/2018 U.S. Secretary of State Michael Pompeo met North Korea’s foreign minister in New York Wednesday and agreed to travel to Pyongyang next month as the two sides continue to prepare for a second summit between President Donald Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un. Middle East Macron Rejects Trump’s Iran Strategy at UN Security Council Bloomberg9/26/2018 U.S. President Donald Trump started a special session of the UN Security Council on Wednesday by defending his decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal and ratchet up sanctions on the Islamic Republic, but that move drew quick criticism from one of America’s closest allies. Netanyahu, in U.N. speech, claims secret Iranian nuclear site Reuters9/27/2018 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday described what he said was a secret atomic warehouse in Tehran and accused Europe of appeasing Iran as he sought to rally support for U.S. sanctions against the Islamic Republic. Iran mocks new nuclear claims by Israel’s PM BBC9/28/2018 Mr Netanyahu made what he called the revelation at the UN, producing a picture of the alleged secret site. However, Iran’s foreign minister dismissed the claim as an “arts and craft show” designed to conceal Israel’s own nuclear programme. Israel says Iran is seeking atomic weapons, a charge Iran denies. Opinion and Analysis Trump Should Let South and North Korea Build Peace National InterestDaniel DePetris 9/27/2018 Addressing the McConnell Center at the University of Louisville on Monday, September 24, CIA Director Gina Haspel stated something the vast preponderance of Korea analysts in the United States have generally taken as fact. Haspel warned that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un likely won’t be giving up his nuclear weapons program anytime soon, if ever. Pyongyang views their nuclear weapons stockpile as “ essential to their regime’s survival ,” Haspel said, so any American effort to separate Kim from those weapons will have to be incredibly appealing.