A day after returning from a visit to Pyongyang , US State Secretary Mike Pompeo said Washington could help bring economic prosperity to isolated North Korea. “If North Korea takes bold action to quickly denuclearize, the US is prepared to work with North Korea to achieve prosperity on a par with our South Korean friends,” he said on Friday, appearing at a press conference alongside his South Korean counterpart Kang Kyung-wha in Washington. The two Korean states had a comparable economy by the 1970s. Currently, however, the communist North Korea is one of the poorest nations in the world and relies on foreign aid to stave off famine from its population. In contrast, its southern neighbors boast the world’s 11th largest economy with average annual wages of $32,399 (€27,137) per capita in 2016. “If Chairman Kim (Jong Un) chooses the right path, there is a future brimming with peace and prosperity for the North Korean people,” Pompeo said. Read more : From Little Rocket Man to pledge of denuclearization – a Trump-Kim timeline From adversaries to partners Pompeo has visited Pyongyang twice in recent months as Washington and Pyongyang work to prepare a summit between North Korea’s Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump over the denuclearization of the peninsula….