North Korea Criticizes Pence's Remarks: 'Negotiations Depend on the U.S.'

North Korea has criticized U.S. Vice President Mike Pence's warning regarding the summit between the two countries, stating that negotiations are 'entirely' dependent on the United States. Donald Trump has stated that the status of a potential meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will soon be clarified. A senior official from North Korea's Foreign Ministry has strongly criticized Pence's comments made in late May. Pence had said that if Kim Jong-un thinks he can play Trump, he is making a big mistake. In a response that has taken on a harsher tone in recent weeks, Choe Son-hui, North Korea's First Vice Foreign Minister, described Pence's remarks as 'foolish and ignorant.' On June 3, Choe stated that these comments were 'surprising.' In another part of her conversation with the state news agency, she expressed, 'We will neither beg the U.S. to talk to us nor will we trouble ourselves to convince them to negotiate.' Choe suggested that if the U.S. rejects North Korea's 'goodwill' for negotiations, she would advise her leader to reconsider the planned meeting with Trump on June 12 in Singapore. Since the beginning of this year, following Kim Jong-un's New Year speech and the proposal to participate in the Winter Olympics in South Korea, meetings between officials from the North and South have reduced the intensity of verbal attacks from Washington and Pyongyang. However, in recent weeks, statements have emerged casting doubt on the Trump-Kim summit. One of these issues was John Bolton's comments, Trump's National Security Advisor, regarding the implementation of the 'Libya option' for North Korea, meaning the complete elimination of nuclear activities in the first step in exchange for the lifting or suspension of sanctions. This statement faced criticism from North Korea. Following this, Pence explained in an interview that 'discussions about the Libya model were raised, as you know, the President has made it clear that only if Kim Jong-un does not agree will he face the Libya model.' Muammar Gaddafi, the former dictator of Libya, agreed in 2003 to eliminate his country's nuclear program and destroy its chemical weapons in exchange for the lifting of sanctions against Libya. Less than a decade later, Gaddafi was overthrown and ultimately killed following internal uprisings and NATO intervention. Donald Trump stated on June 2 that 'we will see where [the meeting with Kim Jong-un] in Singapore leads. It is very likely that it will happen.' He added that the situation would be clarified by next week. The U.S. President had previously mentioned on June 1 that the meeting with Kim Jong-un might be 'postponed.' On Wednesday, he said in a television program on Fox that if the scheduled meeting takes place, 'it would be something tremendous for North Korea and for the world.' The United Nations Security Council suspended sanctions against North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his accompanying members to allow them to travel to Singapore.