US Says It Is Maintaining Pressure on North Korea

WASHINGTON (AP) —  A U.S. ambassador says his country is maintaining a "maximum pressure campaign" to convince North Korea to denuclearize even as Washington prepares a summit between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un.

Robert Wood, the top U.S. envoy to the U.N.-hosted Conference on Disarmament, says the U.S. believes the ongoing pressure campaign "has had an important impact in the North's decision to return to the table."

At a news conference Thursday ahead of a meeting next week on nuclear nonproliferation, Wood said the U.S. welcomed Pyongyang's willingness to talk about denuclearization. He called the summit planned for late May or early June a "momentous time."

Asked by a reporter, Wood said he has received "absolutely no instructions" about possibly easing the pressure on Pyongyang so as not to scuttle the summit.

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