From Austin Bay;
Yesterday Kim Kye Gwan, North Korean First Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs,wiggled and yelped as he “sharply criticized American officials – especially national security adviser John Bolton – for suggesting that Libya could be a template for denuclearizing North Korea.” Kim added that North Korea’s nuclear program is far more advanced than Libya’s nascent program.
That’s true. However, the vice minister’s complaint ignores several facts, which is a good indication it’s an agitation-propaganda ploy to try to get the Trump Administration to accept something less that complete denuclearization.
Well, maybe there’s something else that you’re missing here, Austin. And it’s something that I alluded to yesterday in quoting John Hawkins…
Obama’s move to overthrow Gaddafi after he cooperated with us to get rid of his WMD program was one of the worst foreign policy blunders of the last 50 years.
It seems rather clear to me that the real fear here on Kim’s part is that he’s suddenly going to disappear the way that Moammar Kadafi did. Mind you, I don’t think Donald Trump will be that stupid. I reserve such stupidity for the likes of Barack Hussein Obama. That said, and knowing the way John Bolton loves to turn the screws, (something I’ve always loved about him) I can’t help but think that the reference to Libya intended this reaction from Kim. The military maneuvers going on right now between the United States and South Korea certainly didn’t hurt that image, either. The advantage here would be to keep Kim off balance and nervous as a cat at the Westminster Dog Show. The implication laid out by Bolton serves that purpose very well indeed. Subtle, but very effective.
Mind you I consider that Kim disappearing would be totally justified. As would his being hung by his heels rather publicly.
Kim knows it, too, in a sense. His coming to the negotiating table with Donald Trump just now is, if nothing else an admission of that desperate fear. Here is someone who knows that absent a Game Change, his days in power are numbered and is looking to reinforce his power structure in North Korea. Historically, as a rule, the ends of deposed dictators have not been pretty. And remember that from the beginning, Kim has been making it clear both directly and through implication that his primary objective here is to remain in power.
So I’m thinking his threats of pulling out of the negotiations will come to absolutely nothing. Kim knows that if he doesn’t negotiate with Trump, he assumes room temperature.
