Pompeo wins Senate panel approval as top US diplomat

WASHINGTON -- US President Donald Trump's pick for secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, won the approval of a Senate committee Monday, paving the way for his confirmation.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 11-9 in favor of Pompeo after partisan wrangling over whether the Central Intelligence Agency director is fit for the job.

Pompeo made a secret visit to North Korea over Easter weekend to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and prepare for his potential summit with Trump in May or June.

Democrats have accused him of having extreme views on issues that include North Korea and Iran and questioned his independence from the president.

During his Senate confirmation hearing April 12, Pompeo did not disclose his trip to the North but expressed confidence that the administration will come up with conditions for a peaceful solution to the nuclear issue.

"No one is under any illusions we'll reach a comprehensive agreement through the president's meeting," Pompeo said. "But to set up the conditions acceptable to each side, for the two leaders who will ultimately make the decision about whether such an agreement can be achieved and then set in place, I'm optimistic that the United States government can set the conditions for that appropriately."

The CIA chief also made clear that the administration does not plan to repeat the failures of past negotiations that provided Pyongyang with economic aid before its nuclear weapons program was undone.

"It is the intention of the president and the administration not to do that this time to make sure that before we provide rewards, we get the outcome permanently, irreversibly, that it is that we hope to achieve," he said.

Trump's pick of Pompeo, who has been labeled a foreign policy hawk, raised concerns the administration could lean toward military action against Pyongyang.

He denied that he had ever advocated for regime change in the North.

"My mission, and I've articulated my own personal views on this -- we have a responsibility to achieve a condition where Kim Jong-un is unable to threaten the United States of America with a nuclear weapon," Pompeo said.

He said the US may have to move "past diplomacy" if there were indications of a direct North Korean threat to the US. But he also agreed with a Democratic senator that the consequences would be "catastrophic" if the US initiated an attack on the North.

Pompeo is expected to be confirmed by the full Senate as early as later this week. He would replace Rex Tillerson, who was fired by Trump in March.(Yonhap)