North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un fears he could be overthrown while he’s away attending a summit with President Donald Trump, The Washington Post is reporting.
The summit is still scheduled for June 12 in Singapore, but both sides have acknowledged those plans could change for a number of reasons.
The Post reported that among other concerns, Kim purportedly fears a trip so far away could expose him to a military coupe or other efforts to unseat him from power. The Post attributed its information to unnamed sources.
The newspaper noted North Korean officials remember that Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi was killed in a Western-backed overthrow in 2011 after he gave up his nuclear program eight years earlier.
Trump said last week the "Libyan model" would not apply to North Korea.
"There was no deal to keep Gadhafi," Trump said. "This would be with Kim Jong Un, something where he'd be there; he'd be running his country."
Pyongyang has often used Gadhafi's death to justify its own nuclear development.
And the Post reported Trump reassured Kim of his safety.
"I will guarantee his safety, yes," Trump said. "He will be safe, he will be happy, his country will be rich, his country will be hard-working and prosperous."
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