Qaddafi: “North Korea’s Nuclear Issue should be Resolved Libyan Style”

Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi said on January 25 (local time) that “Libya provided the world with peace by giving up on nuclear weapons,” and that “North Korea and Iran should do the same.”

Qaddafi said this when he met with Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon of Korea at his office in the capital city of Tripoli in Libya on the afternoon of January 25, and in response to Minister Ban’s request to “persuade North Korea to make a strategic decision to surrender its nuclear weapons program through North Korean delegates presiding in Libya,” he said, “we are trying our hand at persuasion.”

The Libyan leader said that “the nuclear issue in North Korea is a serious and dangerous issue, and the people of Korea are living in the midst of the threat of North Korea’s nuclear capabilities,” and emphasized that “North Korea must give up their nuclear weapons and South Korea needs to take the initiative in the process of finding an amicable solution.”

Hyong-gwon Pu bookum90@donga.com