North Korea renews threat to quit Trump summit

Pyongyang casts doubt on Kim-Trump meeting, scheduled for June 12 in Singapore, following the US warning the North may end up like Libya without immediate denuclearisation.

The planned summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (L) and US President Donald Trump has hit a number of speed bumps recently as both sides have begun taking tougher positions.
Reuters Archive

The planned summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un (L) and US President Donald Trump has hit a number of speed bumps recently as both sides have begun taking tougher positions.

North Korea has renewed its threat to pull out of a summit next month between its leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump, saying it is just as ready to meet in a nuclear confrontation as at the negotiating table. 

Pyongyang's latest salvo follows recent comments by US Vice President Mike Pence suggesting the North may end up like Libya if it does not move forward with denuclearisation.

Choe Son-hui, the vice minister of foreign affairs, was quoted on Thursday by the North's state-run news agency KCNA slamming as "ignorant" comments Pence made in an interview that compared North Korea to Libya, saying they showed he did not understand North Korea's situation.

TRT World's Oliver Whitfield-Miocic has more details from Seoul.

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Meeting or nuclear showdown

Choe also questioned whether the summit, scheduled for June 12 in Singapore, would be worthwhile if the remarks reflect Washington's position.

"We will neither beg the US for dialogue nor take the trouble to persuade them if they do not want to sit together with us," KCNA quoted her as saying. 

"Whether the US will meet us at a meeting room or encounter us at nuclear-to-nuclear showdown is entirely dependent upon the decision and behavior of the United States."

The summit plan has hit a number of speed bumps recently as both sides have begun taking tougher positions and are trading barbs. 

Trump met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday at the White House for consultations and suggested the summit could be delayed. 

But the US says it is still working on making it happen.

Choe, a veteran diplomat and former head of the North America desk at the Foreign Ministry, was responding to comments Pence made to Fox News this week that it would be a "mistake" for the North Koreans to think they can "play" Trump. 

'Libya model'

Pence said both the Clinton and Bush administrations had been "played" by the North.

"We offered concessions to the North Korean regime in exchange for promises to end their nuclear weapons programme, only to see them break those promises and abandon them," he said, adding that if Pyongyang does not go along with talks to give up its nuclear weapons, Washington could return to the "Libya model."

That suggestion, which was made earlier this month by National Security Adviser John Bolton and also sparked an outraged response from the North, is especially inflammatory to Pyongyang.

The Libya model refers to negotiations in 2004 that led to the shipping of nuclear components to the US from Libya under Muammar Gaddafi. 

But in Pyongyang's mind the most important part of the story is what came after that. Gaddafi was deposed after a 42-year reign and killed in 2011 – the year Kim assumed power in North Korea – while his country spiralled into chaos.

"In view of the remarks of the US high-ranking politicians who have not yet woken up to this stark reality and compare the DPRK to Libya that met a tragic fate, I come to think that they know too little about us," Choe said, using the acronym for North Korea's official name.

She added, "To borrow their words, we can also make the US taste an appalling tragedy it has neither experienced nor even imagined up to now."

North Korea to dismantle nuclear test site

North Korea was also expected to go through with a major gesture of goodwill ahead of the summit by dismantling its Punggye-ri nuclear test site. 

The North, which has vowed to stop all underground nuclear testing and intercontinental ballistic missile launches, has invited foreign media to the remote site to observe a ceremony to mark the closing.

The ceremony was expected to be held on Thursday or Friday, depending on the weather.

Reuters

North Korea's Punggye-ri nuclear test facility is shown in this DigitalGlobe satellite image in North Hamgyong Province on May 23, 2018.

White House team travels to Singapore

Despite Trump casting doubt on the future of the summit, a White House team is heading to Singapore this weekend to work on logistics for the meeting.

White House spokesperson, Raj Shah, said the US "always sends advance teams ahead of any scheduled presidential visit."

Shah said Joe Hagin – the deputy chief of staff for operations – will go to Singapore over the weekend to continue the preparations.

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