There is not a clear definition of what North Korea's denuclearization will mean to both sides of the debate, and that must happen before talks can move forward Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., said Monday, just before President Donald Trump was to leave Washington for Hanoi and talks with Kim Jong Un.
"I think it will build on the previous summit obviously with the four pillars making better relationships, economic development, bringing peace to the Korean peninsula and then denuclearization," Rep. Yoho told Fox News' "America's Newsroom." "Once we define that and returning the prisoner of war and missing in action remains, these are the key cornerstones of the four previous pillars."
The last thing needed would be going back to Kim "threatening the annihilation" of the United States, Yoho said.
Kim, the third in his family's power lineage, has it in his hand to change the course of his country for the better, Yoho added.
"Keep in mind that Vietnam, Japan, and Germany, these are all countries we had war with," Yoho said. "None of them have nuclear weapons, yet they're our largest trading partners and something we hope Kim Jong Un looks at and says 'you know what? Let's forego the nuclear weapons and work on economies and trade.'"
Kim must also "absolutely" open his nation's nuclear facilities to outside inspectors, Yoho said, as the relations cannot move forward unless that happens.
"If he chooses badly, the sanctions, our goal on the House Foreign Affairs Committee is to make sure that we stand with those sanctions," Yoho said.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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