Trump’s threat: otherwise, the Libyan model is "very likely". Xi Jinping accused of trying to influence Kim Jong-un. North Korea reiterates that it will not resume talks with Seoul until the issues are resolved. Today, the commission of the Revolutionary Army of North Korea has met to "strengthen" national defence.
Washington (AsiaNews / Agencies) - In case of agreement, there will be no "Libyan model" for North Korea: Kim Jong-un will remain in power. This is the reassurance that US President Donald Trump addressed yesterday to Pyongyang, in response to the socialist country's threats to withdraw from the Kim-Trump summit scheduled for June 12.
Last weekend, US security adviser John Bolton unleashed Pyongyang's ire by suggesting that the denuclearization of the North would follow the Libyan model of Muammar Gadhafi in 2003. The Libyan dictator had agreed to renounce nuclear weapons. The agreement was followed by a period of grace for the government, interrupted abruptly by the Arab Spring of 2011: Gaddafi was ousted and killed by some rebels supported by NATO.
Trump contradicted his advisor, assuring Kim Jong-un of a model in which "he will be in his country and will govern his country. Your country will be very rich ". However, to the promise that in case of agreement Kim will be "very, very happy", Trump added a clear threat: without agreement, the Libyan model will be "very likely".
The US president has also accused his Chinese colleague Xi Jinping of being behind the North Korean u-turn. "It is very likely that he is influencing Kim Jong-un." Some analysts point out that the halt in dialogue came shortly after the highly publicized meeting between Kim and Xi Jinping.
For its part, North Korea reiterates that it will not resume dialogue with the South until the problems are resolved. In particular, Pyongyang blames ongoing military exercises involving the US and South Korean armies. Today, the influential military commission of the ruling party held a meeting to bring about a reshuffle of the personnel and "to further strengthen the party's revolutionary army in military and political aspects, and to improve the nation's overall defence efforts".