North Korea calls for American 'respect and trust'

By Alex Jensen

SEOUL (AA) - North Korea asked the United States on Friday to drop its "obsession" with the North's human rights conditions.

A commentary featured on Pyongyang's state-run Uriminzokkiri website urged both sides "to boldly abandon erroneous prejudices and practices, respect and trust each other to remove obstacles ahead, and take goodwill measures for each other".

The statement criticized the U.S. State Department for last week categorizing North Korea in its lowest human trafficking tier for a 16th straight year.

American Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Asia Friday as part of a tour that will see him stay in the North until Saturday before holding talks with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts in Tokyo.

Pompeo's main agenda is working towards clear goals for North Korea's agreement to denuclearize following U.S. President Donald Trump's unprecedented June 12 summit with Chairman Kim Jong-un.

Remarkably, Trump is understood to have sent Pompeo with a CD featuring Elton John's song 'Rocket Man', according to South Korea's Chosun Ilbo newspaper, which cited a diplomatic source in Washington as saying the gift "was the subject of discussion during Trump's lunch with Kim".

"Kim mentioned that Trump referred to him as 'rocket man' when tensions ran high last year," the source explained. "Trump then asked Kim if he knew the song and Kim said no."

The U.S. president has apparently written a message for the North Korean leader on the CD and signed it.