Pyongyang accuses U.S. of ‘gangster-like tactics’ but says it maintains trust in Trump.

The path ahead for talks with North Korea appeared uncertain after a weekend visit by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ended with Pyongyang accusing the U.S. of “gangster-like tactics” and increasing the “risk of war,” but saying it retained confidence in President Donald Trump to reach an agreement on denuclearization. Mr. Pompeo characterized the talks very differently, saying the two sides had “good-faith, productive conversations which will continue in the days and weeks ahead.” Speaking to reporters at a Sunday briefing in Tokyo, he added: “If requests were gangster-like, the world is a gangster.” He said the talks had yielded progress on key matters such as a timeline for denuclearization and concrete steps that North Korea could take to show commitment to the process. The divergent accounts demonstrated the difficulty in translating the broad goal of denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula that resulted from June’s summit between Mr. Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un into specifics that would be acceptable to both sides.

More From The Wall Street Journal (subscription required):