With a strategic decision to put an end to the bitter history of the DPRK-US relationship, Kim Jong Un, chairman of the DPRK State Affairs Commission, met with US State Secretary Pompeo in Pyongyang on two occasions and has taken crucial and generous measures to seek peace and stability on the Korean peninsula and beyond, said Kim Kye Gwan, first vice-minister of Foreign Affairs of the DPRK.

“I positively appreciated the fact that US President Trump voiced his readiness to do away with the long-standing hostility between the two countries and improve bilateral relations in response to the Chairman’s initiative, and believed that the upcoming DPRK-US summit talks would mark a big step to promoting the détente on the peninsula and building a fine future,” he said in a statement on May 16.

“But I’ve been disappointed that reckless remarks getting on the nerves of the dialogue partner are being heard from the US just ahead of the summit talks,” Kim added.

He questioned the current allegations by national security adviser Bolton and other senior US officials of the White House and the Department of State, who have brought up “nuclear abandonment first, compensation later” while talking about the Libyan style of nuclear abandonment, “complete, verifiable and irrevocable denuclearization”, and “complete abandonment of nuclear, missile and biochemical weapon programmes”.

He said that these allegations are far from any negotiated settlement of the issue and they reveal a sinister scheme to impose on the DPRK what Libya and Iraq suffered after leaving themselves at the mercy of powers.

“I am absolutely livid about such behaviour of the US and also doubtful about whether the US really intends to improve relations through sound dialogue and negotiations,” Kim noted.

“The world understands well that our country is different from Libya and Iraq that ended up in destruction,” he added.

He described as stupid any comparison between Libya, whose nuclear programme was yet in its infancy, and the DPRK as a full-fledged nuclear state.

Making no bones about the prejudice against Bolton, he blamed him for the setbacks in the previous DPRK-US negotiations.

“If the Trump administration forgets such experience and follows the pseudo-patriots who talk about something like Libya-style nuclear abandonment, it is quite clear how the overall DPRK-US relationship, namely the scheduled summit talks, would develop,” he said.

We have already expressed our willingness to denuclearize the Korean peninsula and reaffirmed repeatedly that a precondition for it is the cessation of the US’ anti-DPRK policy and nuclear threats, he stated.

Mistaking our magnanimity and generous measures for expression of weakness, he noted, the US is trying to bill them as the results of their sanctions and pressure campaign.

The US advertises the fact that it would offer economic compensation and benefits in return for our nuclear abandonment, but we have never built our own economy relying on the US nor will we do that kind of deal in the future, he said.

It is just a childish comedy that the Trump administration which asserts it would seek a path different from its predecessors remains indecisive about their time-worn approach toward the DPRK, which had its nuclear arms programme in the making yet, he said.

He warned that if Trump follows in his predecessors’ footsteps he would likely be a failed president who is worse than any of the successive US presidents—the antithesis of his original intention to achieve the best results his predecessors have ever won.

The Trump administration will meet our due response when it comes to the negotiating table with sincerity towards improved bilateral relations, Kim said. And he added that if it tries to drive us to a tight corner to push our unilateral nuclear abandonment we will not be interested in that negotiation anymore but reconsider our approach towards the summit talks.