Blue House Says North Korea Will Not Follow the Libya Model for Denuclearization

The Blue House is now letting it be known that North Korea is not serious about denuclearization:

Libya’s process of denuclearization, in which rewards were provided after the regime made an instantaneous decision and completely dismantled its nuclear program, cannot be applied to resolving the North Korea nuclear issue, a Cheong Wa Dae official said Friday.

He hinted at solutions through phrased disarmament and verification, which is somewhat different from hard-line U.S. officials’ preference for a package settlement similar to the Libya disarmament process

Libya gave up its nuclear and other destructive weapons in 2003, in return for normalization of relations with the U.S. and easing of economic sanctions. Attention has grown over the Libyan case as the White House’s newly appointed national security adviser, John Bolton, has backed this model as a means to address North Korea.

“I believe it is impossible to apply the Libyan process to North Korea,” the senior official told reporters on condition of anonymity.  [Korea Times]

This based off of Kim Jong-un’s comments during his trip to China that North Korea would only denuclearize on a step-by-step basis.  In other words nothing has changed from past nuclear negotiations where the Kim regime seeks major concessions for little to nothing in return and then tear up the agreement at a time of their choosing.  Some how I do not see the Trump administration signing up for any deal like that.