Trump warns Kim with same fate as Gaddafi

Donald Trump

Donald Trump has warned Kim Jong Un that he will suffer the same fate as Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi if he backs away from an agreement over its nuclear programme.

The US President made the threat after he was asked about a recent suggestion that the "Libyan model" will be used as template for dealing with North Korea.

Speaking to reporters at the White House on Thursday, Trump said a "much different" model would be used if the rogue state's leader makes good at talks in Singapore on June 12.

Kim Jong Un. Pics/AFP and AP

He said: "The Libyan model was a much different model. We decimated that country. We never said to Gaddafi, 'Oh, we're going to give you protection'." "We went in and decimated him, and we did the same thing with Iraq." The US leader added: "But if we make a deal, I think Kim Jong-Un is going to be very, very happy." It came after North Korea abruptly pulled out of a meeting planned for Wednesday with South Korea and suggested it may also not participate in the summit with Trump. North Korea claimed it was angered over a joint US-South Korea military exercise.

Trump was asked about comments made over the weekend by his national security adviser, John Bolton, who raised the prospect of pursuing a "Libya model". Trump appeared to have confused that process of what happened to the Libyan leader in 2011 when he was overthrown and killed after Libyans joined the Arab Spring protests, and were supported militarily by Nato. He was hunted down and killed by opponents in Sirte, after his convoy was struck by Nato planes.