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North Korea Warns of ‘Nuclear Showdown’ if Summit Canceled

After Trump said he’d be willing to call it off if Kim Jong Un won’t agree to terms.

A top North Korean official has threatened a “nuclear-to-nuclear showdown” with the U.S. if Washington calls off the June 12 summit between President Trump and Kim Jong Un. A day after Trump told South Korea’s Moon Jae-in he’d call off the meeting if Kim doesn’t agree to the conditions set forth by the U.S., Choe Son Hui, North Korea’s vice minister of foreign affairs, said she’d urge Kim to cancel the meeting if Washington continues on its current track. Choe took particular issue with recent remarks by Vice President Mike Pence, whom she called a “political dummy.” Pence suggested in an interview with Fox News this week that North Korea could suffer the same fate as Libya if it fails to live up to its denuclearization pledge. “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,” Choe said in a statement released through official state media. She also accused the U.S. of “misleading the public opinion” about the planned meeting, which she said Washington requested despite the Trump administration’s claims it was the other way around.