DPRK slams Bolton's 'dim-sighted' call for sign of denuclearization

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The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has criticized U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton's "nonsense" call for Pyongyang to show that it's serious about giving up its nuclear weapons, the second time it has criticized a leading U.S. official in less than a week.

Bolton Wednesday questioned DPRK's intention of holding a third Trump-Kim summit by saying that the DPRK need to have "a real indication" which shows that they have made "strategic decision to give up nuclear weapons." The remark comes after U.S. President Donald Trump said he is open to a third summit with DPRK leader Kim Jong Un.

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"Bolton, national security adviser of the White House, in an interview with Bloomberg, showed above himself by saying such a nonsense," the DPRK's Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui told reporters when asked response to Bolton's recent comments, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported on Saturday.

"Bolton's remarks make me wonder whether they sprang out of incomprehension of the intentions of the top leaders of the DPRK and the U.S. or whether he was just trying to talk with a certain sense of humor for his part, with its own deviation."

DPRK Vice Foreign Minister Choe Son Hui (C) arrives in Singapore ahead of the summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and DPRK leader Kim Jong Un, June 12, 2018. /VCG Photo

She reminded Bolton of his duty as the White House top security adviser and urged him to "grasp the context of the talks discussed between top officials of the DPRK and U.S. in regards to the third summit," according to KCNA.

"All things considered, his word has no charm in it and he looks dim-sighted to me," said Choe. She also warned that there would be no good if the U.S. continued "to throw away such remarks devoid of discretion and reason."

The DPRK Thursday demanded the removal of U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo from stalled nuclear talks between Pyongyang and Washington, calling for someone who "is more careful and mature in communicating," hours after its first weapons test since nuclear talks broke down. While Pompeo told reporter on Saturday that "nothing has changed" in response to DPRK's demand.

(With inputs from Reuters)

(Cover: U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, U.S., April 2, 2019. /Reuters Photo)

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