Kathmandu, May 18. Kim Kye Gwan, the First Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) has warned Trump administration that the DPRK is a nuclear state, neither Libya, nor Iraq.
Releasing a Press Statement on May 16, Kim Kye Gwan said, “World knows too well that our country is neither Libya nor Iraq which have met miserable fate”, he further added, “It is absolutely absurd to dare compare the DPRK, nuclear weapon state, to Libya which had been at the initial stage of nuclear development.”
The Press Statement came after the comment of the Trump administration on DPRK-US relation that signaled a conspiracy against the DPRK and supposed to have a plan of government change by a Libiya model operation against the DPRK.
KCNA, the official state media of the DPRK quotes the Press Statement of the Vice-Minister Kim Kye Gwan, “We have already stated our intention for denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and made clear on several occasions that precondition for denuclearization is to put an end to anti-DPRK hostile policy and nuclear threats and blackmail of the United States.”
The full text of the Press Statement follows as:
Comrade Kim Jong Un, Chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, made a strategic decision to put an end to the unpleasant history of the DPRK-U.S. relations and met Pompeo, U.S. secretary of state for two times during his visit to our country and took very important and broad-minded steps for peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and over the world.
In response to the noble intention of comrade chairman of the State Affairs Commission, president Trump stated his position for terminating the historically deep-rooted hostility and improving the relations between the DPRK and the U.S.
I appreciated the position positively with an expectation that upcoming DPRK-U.S. summit would be a big step forward for catalyzing detente on the Korean peninsula and building a great future.
But now prior to the DPRK-U.S. summit, unbridled remarks provoking the other side of dialogue are recklessly made in the U.S. and I am totally disappointed as these constitute extremely unjust behavior.
High-ranking officials of the White House and Department of State including Bolton, White House national security adviser are letting loose the assertions of so-called Libya mode of nuclear abandonment,”complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization”, “total decommissioning of nuclear weapons, missiles, biochemical weapons” etc, while talking about formula of “abandoning nuclear weapons first, compensating afterwards”.
This is not an expression of intention to address the issue through dialogue. It is essentially a manifestation of awfully sinister move to impose on our dignified state the destiny of Libya or Iraq which had been collapsed due to yielding the whole of their countries to big powers.
I cannot suppress indignation at such moves of the U.S. and harbor doubt about the U.S. sincerity for improved DPRK-U.S. relations through sound dialogue and negotiations.
World knows too well that our country is neither Libya nor Iraq which have met miserable fate. It is absolutely absurd to dare compare the DPRK, nuclear weapon state, to Libya which had been at the initial stage of nuclear development.
We shed light on the quality of Bolton already in the past, and we do not hide our feeling of repugnance towards him.
If Trump administration fails to recall the lessons learned from the past when the DPRK-U.S. talks had to undergo twists and setbacks owing to the likes of Bolton and turns its ear to the advice of quasi-“patriots” who insist on Libya mode and the like, prospects of upcoming DPRK-U.S. summit and overall DPRK-U.S. relations will be crystal clear.
We have already stated our intention for denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and made clear on several occasions that precondition for denuclearization is to put an end to anti-DPRK hostile policy and nuclear threats and blackmail of the United States.
But now, 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.
The U.S. is trumpeting as if it would offer economic compensation and benefit in case we abandon nuke. But we have never ever had any expectation of U.S. support in carrying out our economic construction and will not at all make such a deal in future too.
It is a ridiculous comedy to see that Trump administration, claiming to take a different road from the previous administrations, still clings to the outdated policy on the DPRK – a policy pursued by previous administrations at the time when the DPRK was at the stage of nuclear development.
If president Trump follows in the footsteps of his predecessors, he will be recorded as more tragic and unsuccessful president than his predecessors, far from his initial ambition to make unprecedented success.
If 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. 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.
Also Read: KCNA Blasts the USA and S. Korea for Staging War Drama
Pyongyang, May 16, Juche 107(2018).
