Trump: ‘Libya model’ isn’t for Pyongyang

Top DPRK leader asks troops to support economic construction

WASHINGTON/PYONGYANG — US President Donald Trump has ruled out the use of the “Libya model” in efforts to pursue denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, saying that was not the model for the talks with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Trump was responding to a suggestion by his national security adviser John Bolton.

“The Libyan model isn’t a model that we have at all when we’re thinking of North Korea (the DPRK),” Trump told reporters at the White House before meeting with visiting NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

“The Libyan model that was mentioned was a much different deal. This would be with Kim Jong-un — something where he’d be there, he’d be in his country, he’d be running his country,” Trump said.

He was scheduled to meet the DPRK top leader on June 12 in Singapore.

Trump also cautioned that the Libya model could take place if “we don’t make a deal, most likely”.

Scheduled summit

Bolton angered Pyongyang and put it on high alert recently by suggesting the country’s denuclearization should follow the Libya model in which its leader Muammar Gadhafi who gave up atomic weapons was later killed in a US-backed uprising.

Pyongyang responded strongly on Wednesday, saying that the country may reconsider the scheduled US-DPRK summit because of extremely provocative remarks made by US officials.

DPRK First Vice-Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan said in a statement that Bolton had even urged the DPRK to abandon its nuclear arsenal first in order to receive benefits on trade, a stance similar to that taken with Libya.

“This is not about solving problems through dialogue, but is intended to replay the tragedy of Libya on the DPRK,” he said, adding that Libya “has totally collapsed after handing over its fate to big powers”.

However, the White House remains somewhat upbeat about the Trump-Kim summit.

“Nothing has changed on our end,” said White House Spokeswoman Sarah Sanders on Thursday.

“The president is fully prepared to have the meeting. But if not, that’s okay too. And we’ll see what happens beyond that,” she added.

Kim, the DPRK top leader, has demanded the troops provide support for the country’s economic construction, official media Korean Central News Agency reported on Friday.

Kim made the remarks at the 1st Enlarged Meeting of the 7th Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea, KCNA reported.

Also on Thursday, Pyongyang urged Seoul to stop its joint military drills with Washington and stop using northern defectors to attack Pyongyang, so that inter-Korean talks could be resumed.

Pyongyang suspended interKorean talks on Wednesday to protest a two-week-long largescale air drill between the US and the Republic of Korea, which will last until May 25.

ROK President Moon Jae-in is scheduled to visit Washington next week in a bid to help the US-DPRK summit become a success.