Trump gives a warning and an assurance to Kim Jong Un

Trump gives a warning and an assurance to Kim Jong Un. May. 19, 2018 07:22. parky@donga.com,wizi@donga.com.
U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday opened his mouth two days after Pyongyang threatened to call off planned talks with South Korean officials and cancel a summit planned for June 12 in Singapore. In remarks at the White House when asked about the Libya model for dealing with North Korea, Trump mentioned “decimation,” a word meaning the killing or destruction, seven times.

“The Libya model isn’t the model that we have at all when we’re thinking of North Korea,” Trump said, appearing to assuage North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and ensure that a deal with North Korea would be with Kim. However, he also suggested the Libya model would take place if Kim disagreed to disarm.

Trump contracted his national security advisor John Bolton, who had said the administration would ask North Korea to follow the Libya model. Pyongyang reacted strongly against statements by Bolton over the weekend. “That model, if you look at that model with Gaddafi, that was a total decimation. We went in there to beat him,” the U.S. president said.

However, the U.S. president issued a threat to Pyongyang that that model would take place most likely if Trump and Kim don’t make a deal. “If the meeting doesn’t happen, we will go on to the next step,” Trump added. “But if we make a deal, I believe Kim Jong Un would be very, very happy. He will get protections that will be very strong.”