During an appearance on today’s edition of “Fox News Sunday,” Security Adviser John Bolton suggested that President Donald J. Trump will not meet with Kim Jong Un until the North Korean dictator “agrees to give up his country’s entire nuclear weapons program”:
We have very much in mind the Libya model from 2003-04…we’ll want to test North Korea in the first meeting for evidence that they have made that strategic decision.
Bolton also said that the “leaders are still negotiating a time and place for such a meeting, but that finalizing such logistics hinge on Kim abandoning his nuclear program.”
Bolton’s comments come just two days after South Korean President Moon Jae-in and Kim Jong Un vowed to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula during their summit. Reuters reports that Kim Jong Un has previously “pledged his commitment to denuclearization and to meet U.S. officials.,” after his meeting with China’s President, and dictator for life, Xi Jinping,
And today we learn that North Korean dictator told South Korean President Moon that his country would be willing to give up its nuclear weapons if the U.S. commits to a formal end to the Korean War and a pledges not to attack the North.
Bolton also made clear that even though President Trump is “eager to (meet) as soon as possible,” nobody in the administration is “starry-eyed” about Kim indeed dismantling his nuclear weapons program and sticking to his promise:
Bolton also suggested that Kim would have to give up his “entire nuclear program” before sanctions are lifted.
You can watch the entire interview in the following video:
The transcript of the interview is available here.
President Trump tweeted Saturday that the logistics for his planned meeting with Kim Jong Un are “going very well.” CBS News reports that Mongolia and Singapore are the final two sites under consideration for the upcoming summit between President Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un. It has been difficult to find a suitable location because North Korea doesn’t have an aircraft that can fly Kim too far and Kim fears the possibility of his aircraft being shot down.
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