--- description: North Korea’s government newspaper accused the U.S. of "double-dealing" after Washington cancelled a visit by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo title: North Korea Accuses The U.S. Of 'Hatching a Criminal Plot' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta87e82bf4f745694/698938c37cdbac710cd5dc65/rts1qon0.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [North Korea](/tag/north-korea/) ## North Korea Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # North Korea Accuses the U.S. of 'Hatching a Criminal Plot' Against Pyongyang ## Video: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Pledges Not To Let North Korea Negotiations Drag On [Watch (HLS stream): US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Pledges Not To Let North Korea Negotiations Drag On](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/paSp30HA.m3u8) (0:43)  _Published 2018-07-26. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says while the U.S. is engaged with "patient diplomacy" with North Korea, he pledged not to let negotiations "drag out to no end."_ by [Eli Meixler](/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 27, 2018 6:07 AM CUT  North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in this undated photo released on May 9, 2018 by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in this undated photo released on May 9, 2018 by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang.KCNA/Reuters by [Eli Meixler](/author/eli/) ## Eli Meixler Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 27, 2018 6:07 AM CUT North Korea’s state-controlled newspaper accused the U.S. of “[double-dealing](https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-usa/north-korea-newspaper-blasts-double-dealing-u-s-after-pompeos-trip-canceled-idUSKCN1LB0BY "undefined")” on Sunday after Washington canceled a planned visit by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, as negotiations over the pariah state’s nuclear arsenal continue to stall. An editorial in North Korea’s _Rodong Sinmun_ paper criticized American “double-dealing attitudes,” and alleged that the U.S. was “busy staging secret drills involving man-killing special units while having a dialogue with a smile on its face,” Reuters reports. The newspaper said the U.S. was holding war drills with Japan that planned “the infiltration into Pyongyang,” the North Korean capital. “Such acts prove that the U.S. is hatching a criminal plot to unleash a war against the DPRK,” the editorial said. A U.S. Embassy spokesperson in Seoul told Reuters that there was no information available about the alleged drill. Japan’s Defense Ministry announced that it was [considering joint U.S. air exercises](https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2018/08/22/national/politics-diplomacy/u-s-military-deploy-5-ospreys-tokyos-suburbs-october/#.W4N7vJP-hsY "undefined") using specialized aircraft, _The Japan Times_ reported last week. The U.S. has also [canceled](http://time.com/5088363/the-u-s-just-canceled-war-drills-off-the-korean-peninsula-during-the-olympics/ "undefined") and [postponed military drills](http://time.com/5309792/south-korea-military-exercise-history/ "undefined") with South Korea at North Korea’s behest. **Read more**: [_I Was an Admiral. Why Trump Ending ‘War Games’ Is a Mistake_](http://time.com/5310534/donald-trump-north-korea-war-games-military-exercises/ "undefined") Little progress has been made toward ending hostilities since the [landmark summit](http://time.com/5309069/donald-trump-kim-jong-un-meet-summit/ "undefined") between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore in June. North Korea has pushed for a peace agreement to formally end the 1950-1953 Korean War, (the two nations [technically remain](http://time.com/5253054/north-korea-south-korea-war-history/ "undefined") at war as only an armistice was signed, rather than a peace treaty.) But critics said that such a deal would prompt the [withdrawal of U.S. troops](http://time.com/5324575/us-camp-humphreys-south-korea-largest-military-base/ "undefined") from South Korea. Pompeo has pushed for more substantive evidence that North Korea is dismantling its nuclear weapons program after Kim [signed the agreement](http://time.com/5309425/donald-trump-kim-jong-un-summit-document-full-text/ "undefined") in Singapore that pledged to “work toward complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.” President Trump advised Pompeo on Friday to [delay a planned trip](http://time.com/5377671/trump-north-korea-trip-delayed/ "undefined") to Pyongyang, [saying](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1033045273361178624 "undefined") that North Korea was “not making sufficient progress” toward denuclearization. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5378821/north-korea-mike-pompeo-double-dealing/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5378821/north-korea-mike-pompeo-double-dealing/"},"headline":"North Korea Accuses the U.S. of 'Hatching a Criminal Plot' Against Pyongyang","datePublished":"2018-08-27T06:07:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T21:15:50.861Z","description":"Little negotiating progress has been made since the landmark summit in Singapore in June","url":"https://time.com/5378821/north-korea-mike-pompeo-double-dealing/","keywords":["North Korea","onetime","overnight"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta87e82bf4f745694/698938c37cdbac710cd5dc65/rts1qon0.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Eli Meixler","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/eli/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta87e82bf4f745694/698938c37cdbac710cd5dc65/rts1qon0.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo","caption":"North Korean leader Kim Jong Un shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo","creditText":"KCNA/Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/north-korea/","name":"North Korea"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5378821/north-korea-mike-pompeo-double-dealing/","name":"North Korea Accuses the U.S. of 'Hatching a Criminal Plot' Against Pyongyang"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Pledges Not To Let North Korea Negotiations Drag On","description":"US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says while the U.S. is engaged with \"patient diplomacy\" with North Korea, he pledged not to let negotiations \"drag out to no end.\"","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/paSp30HA/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2018-07-26T04:24:52.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/paSp30HA.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/5378821/north-korea-mike-pompeo-double-dealing/","duration":"PT43S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/5378821/north-korea-mike-pompeo-double-dealing/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```