Foreign Affairs Chair Ed Royce: 'Keep Applying Pressure' on NKorea

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce said Thursday that the United States "can pursue more diplomacy, as we keep applying pressure ounce by ounce" on North Korea after President Donald Trump agreed to meeting with dictator Kim Jong Un by May.

"Kim Jong Un's desire to talk shows sanctions the administration has implemented are starting to work," the California Republican said in a statement.

Trump said he would meet with Kim in an effort to get Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear ambitions, South Korea's National Security Adviser Chung Eui-yong told reporters outside the White House.

Royce cautioned, however: "North Korean regimes have repeatedly used talks and empty promises to extract concessions and buy time.

"North Korea uses this to advance its nuclear and missile programs.

"We've got to break this cycle," he said. "The United States and South Korea must stand shoulder-to-shoulder in applying the sustained pressure needed to peacefully end this threat.

"And Beijing must do its part."

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