Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee said Sunday it is unrealistic to think the U.S. can “charm” North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un into giving up his nuclear ambitions.
“He views having deliverable nuclear weapons as his ticket to dying as an old man in his bed,” the Republican told ABC’s This Week. “He saw what happened with [Libyan President Muammar] Qaddafi. Qaddafi’s a dead man now because he gave up his nuclear weapons.”
President Trump hailed “progress” this weekend in his efforts to compel North Korea to abandon its nuclear-weapons program, citing that country’s pledge to suspend missile and nuclear tests for historic talks with Mr. Trump. The nuclear shutdown began Saturday, according to Korean state-run news.
The talks are being arranged for May or June.
Yet North Korea didn’t say it was abandoning its program entirely.
Mr. Kim sent a mixed message by praising his country’s rapid development of such weapons. He called the completion of his nuclear-missile program a “miraculous victory” that was “perfectly accomplished…in a short span of less than five years.”
Mr. Corker said it’s important to keep that in mind.
“To think that someone is going to go in and charm him out of this is not realistic,” Mr. Corker said. “Is there some progress that can be made? I hope so. But you know, that’s a big hurdle.”
Mr. Trump on Sunday said he doesn’t know how the talks will end, though he blamed his predecessors for leaving the situation in his lap.
“We are a long way from conclusion on North Korea, maybe things will work out, and maybe they won’t - only time will tell….But the work I am doing now should have been done a long time ago!” he tweeted.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
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