The US once said it will maintain maximum pressure on the DPRK until complete, verifiable and irreversible dismantling of its nuclear program is achieved. With a summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un in the cards, there's speculation Washington will draw on its experience with Libya.

Newly appointed national security advisor John Bolton said the US should seek a deal like the one used to disarm Libya in the early 2000s. Bolton was Under-Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security at the time. In 2003, Libya agreed to destroy all of its chemical, nuclear, and biological weapons stockpiles. In the following year, its nuclear weapons program equipment was shipped to Oak Ridge, Tennessee. In exchange, relations with the US and Europe were normalized, and economic sanctions were eased. But a South Korean official said Friday the Libya disarmament cannot be applied in this case.