North Korea Threatens to Cancel Trump Summit on Nuclear Demands
North Korea threatened to walk away from its meeting with President Donald Trump next month if the U.S. made a “one-sided demand” for the regime to surrender its nuclear weapons.
North Korea’s first vice foreign minister, Kim Kye Gwan, said the regime was disappointed by recent comments from the U.S., according to a statement published Wednesday by the state-run Korean Central News Agency. The statement cited remarks by National Security Adviser John Bolton urging a “Libya model” for the rapid dismantlement of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
“If the Trump administration takes an approach to the DPRK-U.S. summit with sincerity for improved DPRK-U.S. relations, it will receive a deserved response from us,” Kim Kye Gwan said, using an acronym for North Korea’s formal name. “However, if the U.S. is trying to drive us into a corner to force our unilateral nuclear abandonment, we will no longer be interested in such dialogue and cannot but reconsider our proceeding to the DPRK-U.S. summit.”
Earlier Wednesday, North Korea abruptly canceled talks with South Korea and warned the U.S. to “think twice” about Trump’s summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un scheduled for next month in Singapore. The moves undercut the optimism after Kim agreed to discuss his nuclear weapons program in a first-of-its-kind meeting.
Tensions have built in recent weeks over the steps needed for the U.S. to ease sanctions against North Korea: The Trump administration wants Kim to give up his weapons before getting anything in return, while Kim favors a more phased approach. Stocks tied to expectations of a resumption in inter-Korean business fell on Wednesday.
An earlier KCNA dispatch announcing the decision to suspend “indefinitely” talks with South Korea, cited the allies’ “Max Thunder” military drills and other “improper acts” by authorities in Seoul. “There is a limit in showing goodwill and offering opportunity,” the report said.
Libya Comparison
The later comments from Kim Kye Gwan indicated broader dissatisfaction with the U.S. approach to talks, and Bolton’s comparisons to Libya in particular.
The last remnants of Libya’s nuclear program were loaded onto an aircraft in 2009 and shipped out of the country, part of a U.S.-brokered deal with dictator Muammar Qaddafi to disarm in return for sanctions relief. Two years later, NATO-backed rebels brutally killed him.
“It is absolutely absurd to dare compare the DPRK, a nuclear weapon state, to Libya which had been at the initial stage of nuclear development,” the vice foreign minister said. “The U.S. is miscalculating the magnanimity and broad-minded initiatives of the DPRK as signs of weakness and trying to embellish and advertise as if these are the product of its sanctions and pressure.”
Courtesy : Bloomberg
Photo : Wow Keren
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