For some experts, nuclear disarmament could lead to the collapse of the regime in the peninsula

The summit between North Korea and United States has been canceled indefinitely by Donald Trump, after a new exchange of positions where the North Korean regime claimed not to be willing to negotiate its total denuclearization fearing a possible end similar to that of Gaddafi in Libya.

Leer en español: ¿Terminará Kim Jong-un como Gadafi?

Muammar Gaddafi was a Libyan dictator who stayed in power for 42 years, from 1969 to October 20, 2011, the day he died in the hands of opponents who took entire cities and attacks led by NATO.

Libya was one of the places in the world that had a powerful nuclear arsenal. However, years of international blockades, sanctions, and a US invasion of Iraq, caused that in December 2003, Gaddafi decided to renounce his program of weapons of mass destruction and opened the door to international verifiers who supervised the fulfillment of the commitment.

Although the regime of Gaddafi got the opening of commercial channels that increased investment and foreign trade, years later, Gaddafi ended up lynched by the people and international aid.

The differences between Libya and North Korea

Some sectors fear that after the handing over of the nuclear arsenal the regime of Kim Jong-un will weaken and the US strategy be the same used in Libya.

North Korea's deputy foreign minister, Kim Gye Gwan, said in a statement that Pyongyang would not be interested in the meeting between the leaders, if North Korea denuclearization is the central issue.

Also read: North Korea shows its ' bipolarity ' by suspending meeting with South Korea

Donald Trump responded to the statement saying that "the model of Libya is not a model we have at all when we think of North Korea, in Libya, we annihilated that country, that country was annihilated." There was no agreement to keep Gadhafi (in power)", contrary to what is planned to agree with Kim Jong-un for him to stay in power.

In addition, unlike Libya, North Korea is under the protection of China, a guarantor nation at the summit, which would watch over the US to do not enter without authorization to North Korea.

The denuclearization dilemma

North Korea is going through a scenario similar to the one lived in Libya during the last years of Gaddafi. The population has been immersed in blockades and a severe shortage of food and resources due to the regime.

In 2014, Pyongyang agreed to stop nuclear testing, uranium enrichment, and the launching of long-range missiles in exchange for 240,000 tons of food sent by Washington.

Although the exact reasons that led Kim to contemplate a dialogue with the United States are not known, international observers indicate that it is due to the multiple and harsh sanctions against the country and which have tripled in the last year.

According to Western statements, the negotiation between the two countries aimed at dismantling the North Korean nuclear program. Instead, USA it would offer economic aid to strengthen the peninsula without questioning the dictatorship and guaranteeing that Kim would remain in power after denuclearization. However, for North Korea, complete denuclearization is not yet a negotiable option within the agreed dialogue.

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On the tightrope

In previous days, Kim's government had threatened to withdraw from the summit due to statements by US security adviser John Bolton and his plans for nuclear disarmament in North Korea with the model made in Libya. In response, Trump said the meeting could not be held on the agreed date, adding that "if it does not happen, maybe it will happen later."

A couple of days later, the US president confirmed in a letter sent to Kim Jong-un the indefinite cancellation of the summit, due to the "open hostility" of Pyongyang.

Sadly, I was forced to cancel the Summit Meeting in Singapore with Kim Jung Un. pic.twitter.com/qEoi9ymUEz

– Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 24, 2018

The meeting between the USA and North Korea is still hanging on the line. The scenario in previous months was unimaginable, since Kim launched an intercontinental missile program that would reach US territory and then a verbal war broke out between the two leaders that almost ignited the nuclear detonator.

So far, it is unknown if the summit will take place on June 12, since a US team is in North Korean territory making evaluation of the completion of the summit, which may possibly incorporate the South Korean president Moon Jae-In. With this American delegation, it seemed that the announcement made on May 24 of cancellation of the cover had been overlooked.

Latin American Post | Krishna Jaramillo
Translated from “¿Terminará Kim Jong-un como Gadafi?”