Choe Son Hui,North Korea’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs
In a letter to Chairman Kim Jong Un, May 24, 2018, President Trump called off their summit meeting scheduled for June 12, stating that “based on the tremendous anger and open hostility displayed by your most recent statement, I feel it is inappropriate, at this time, to have this long planned meeting.”
The “anger and hostility” came first in response to recommendations by National Security Advisor, John Bolton, that the U.S. approach to denuclearization of North Korea should follow the Libyan model, and most recently in response to a warning issued by Vice President, Mike Pence, May 21, 2018, that “this will only end like the Libyan model ended if Kim Jong Un doesn’t make a deal.”
The “Libyan model” was followed by the NATO led overthrow of Libyan leader, Muammer Gaddafi, and his death. As then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton put it, “We came, we saw, he died.”
What follows is the reaction (English/Korean texts) of Choe Son Hui, North Korea’s Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, to Vice President Pence’s remarks inferring that Kim Jong Un could share the fate of Muammer Gaddafi if he doesn’t make a deal with the U.S.
Press Statement by Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of DPRK
Pyongyang, May 24 (KCNA) — Choe Son Hui, Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of the DPRK, issued the following press statement on Thursday:
At an interview with Fox News on May 21, U.S. Vice-President Pence made unbridled and impudent remarks that north Korea might end like Libya, military option for north Korea never came off the table, the U.S. needs complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization, and so on.
As a person involved in the U.S. affairs, I cannot suppress my surprise at such ignorant and stupid remarks gushing out from the mouth of the U.S. vice-president.
If he is vice-president of “single superpower” as is in name, it will be proper for him to know even a little bit about the current state of global affairs and to sense to a certain degree the trends in dialogue and the climate of détente.
We could surmise more than enough what a political dummy he is as he is trying to compare the DPRK, a nuclear weapon state, to Libya that had simply installed a few items of equipment and fiddled around with them.
Soon after the White House National Security Adviser Bolton made the reckless remarks, Vice-President Pence has again spat out nonsense that the DPRK would follow in Libya’s footstep. It is to be underlined, however, that in order not to follow in Libya’s footstep, we paid a heavy price to build up our powerful and reliable strength that can defend ourselves and safeguard peace and security in the Korean peninsula and the region.
In view of the remarks of the U.S. 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.
To borrow their words, we can also make the U.S. taste an appalling tragedy it has neither experienced nor even imagined up to now.
Before making such reckless threatening remarks without knowing exactly who he is facing, Pence should have seriously considered the terrible consequences of his words.
It is the U.S. who has asked for dialogue, but now it is misleading the public opinion as if we have invited them to sit with us. I only wonder what is the ulterior motive behind its move and what is it the U.S. has calculated to gain from that.
We will neither beg the U.S. for dialogue nor take the trouble to persuade them if they do not want to sit together with us.
Whether the U.S. 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.
In case the U.S. offends against our goodwill and clings to unlawful and outrageous acts, I will put forward a suggestion to our supreme leadership for reconsidering the DPRK-U.S. summit.
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조선민주주의인민공화국 외무성 최선희부상 담화
21일 미국부대통령 펜스는 폭스 뉴스와의 인터뷰에서 북조선이 리비아의 전철을 밟을수 있다느니,북조선에 대한 군사적선택안은 배제된적이 없다느니,미국이 요구하는것은 완전하고 검증가능하며 되돌릴수 없는 비핵화라느니 뭐니 하고 횡설수설하며 주제넘게 놀아댔다.
대미사업을 보는 나로서는 미국부대통령의 입에서 이런 무지몽매한 소리가 나온데 대해 놀라움을 금할수 없다.
명색이 《유일초대국》의 부대통령이라면 세상 돌아가는 물정도 좀 알고 대화흐름과 정세완화기류라도 어느 정도 느껴야 정상일것이다.
핵보유국인 우리 국가를 고작해서 얼마 되지 않는 설비들이나 차려놓고 만지작거리던 리비아와 비교하는것만 보아도 그가 얼마나 정치적으로 아둔한 얼뜨기인가를 짐작하고도 남음이 있다.
백악관 국가안보보좌관 볼튼에 이어 이번에 또 부대통령 펜스가 우리가 리비아의 전철을 밟게 될것이라고 력설하였는데 바로 리비아의 전철을 밟지 않기 위해 우리는 값비싼 대가를 치르면서 우리 자신을 지키고 조선반도와 지역의 평화와 안전을 수호할수 있는 강력하고 믿음직한 힘을 키웠다.
그런데 이 엄연한 현실을 아직도 깨닫지 못하고 우리를 비극적인 말로를 걸은 리비아와 비교하는것을 보면 미국의 고위정객들이 우리를 몰라도 너무도 모른다는 생각이 든다.
그들의 말을 그대로 되받아 넘긴다면 우리도 미국이 지금까지 체험해보지 못했고 상상도 하지 못한 끔찍한 비극을 맛보게 할수 있다.
펜스는 자기의 상대가 누구인가를 똑바로 알지 못하고 무분별한 협박성발언을 하기에 앞서 그 말이 불러올 무서운 후과에 대해 숙고했어야 하였다.
저들이 먼저 대화를 청탁하고도 마치 우리가 마주앉자고 청한듯이 여론을 오도하고있는 저의가 무엇인지,과연 미국이 여기서 얻을수 있다고 타산한것이 무엇인지 궁금할뿐이다.
우리는 미국에 대화를 구걸하지 않으며 미국이 우리와 마주앉지 않겠다면 구태여 붙잡지도 않을것이다.
미국이 우리를 회담장에서 만나겠는지 아니면 핵 대 핵의 대결장에서 만나겠는지는 전적으로 미국의 결심과 처신여하에 달려있다.
미국이 우리의 선의를 모독하고 계속 불법무도하게 나오는 경우 나는 조미수뇌회담을 재고려할데 대한 문제를 최고지도부에 제기할것이다.
주체107(2018)년 5월 24일
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