"We are serious when we say, that the final and fully verified denuclearisation of North Korea, as promised by Trump and Kim in Singapore, is our objective. And we have every intention of getting to that objective. And until we get to that point they should not expect to see a kind of dramatic sanctions relief that they have asked for", Ford said at a press conference, stressing that this decision would not be subject to further negotiation.
Ford added that by continuing the campaign of pressure, Washington remained open to further engagement.
Immediately after the summit, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said that Pyongyang would have dismantled all nuclear material if the United States had only removed restrictions partially.
In late February, US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held their second summit in the Vietnamese capital in an attempt to give the denuclearisation process on the Korean Peninsula more momentum. The negotiations fell apart, however, after Pyongyang said it wanted Washington to lift all sanctions on the country before it started denuclearising, to which the United States could not agree.
