This was an awkward, if not foreboding, message to North Korea. In the “Libya model,” the North African country’s leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, ceded his nascent nuclear program in exchange for economic integration with the West. Years later, the United States began military action in Libya to prevent Colonel Qaddafi from massacring his own people. He ultimately went on the run and met a violent end when he was pulled from a ditch and brutally killed.

After that, the narrative in North Korea became clear: Had he not surrendered his nuclear program, North Korean officials said, he might still be alive.

May 15, 2018

Power struggle: North Korea says ‘We will no longer be interested’

“It is absolutely absurd to dare compare the DPRK, a nuclear weapon state, to Libya which had been at the initial state of nuclear development,” Vice Minister Kim Kye-gwan said in a statement.

He added, “If the United States is trying to drive us into a corner to force our unilateral nuclear abandonment, we will no longer be interested in such dialogue and cannot but reconsider our proceeding to the North Korea-U.S. summit.”

May 21, 2018

Pence doubles down: ‘It would be a great mistake for Kim Jong-un to think he could play Donald Trump’

Vice President Mike Pence: We offered concessions to the North Korean regime in exchange for promises to end their nuclear weapons programs only to see them break those promises and abandon them. It would be a great mistake for Kim Jong-un to think he could play Donald Trump.

Martha MacCallum, Fox News host: So, clearly the president is still willing to walk away.

Pence: Well, there’s no question, but look it’s — we hope for better. We really hope that Kim Jong-un will seize the opportunity to dismantle his nuclear weapons program and do so by peaceable means. You know, there were some talk about the Libya model last week. And you know, as the president made clear, you know, this will only end like the Libya Model ended if Kim Jong-un doesn’t make a deal.

May 23, 2018

Ultimatum: ‘Reconsidering the D.P.R.K.-U.S. summit’

“As a person involved in the U.S. affairs, I cannot suppress my surprise at such ignorant and stupid remarks gushing out from the mouth of the U.S. vice president,” said North Korea’s vice foreign minister, Choe Son-hui. “In case the U.S. offends against our good will and clings to unlawful and outrageous acts, I will put forward a suggestion to our supreme leadership for reconsidering the D.P.R.K.-U.S. summit.”