Women protesters stage a rally for peace on the Korea peninsular near U.S. Embassy in Seoul, Wednesday, May 23, 2018. U.S. President Donald Trump labored with South Korea's Moon Jae-in Tuesday to keep... (Associated Press) 
 
 Women protesters stage a rally for peace on the Korea peninsular near U.S. Embassy in Seoul, Wednesday, May 23, 2018. U.S. President Donald Trump labored with South Korea's Moon Jae-in Tuesday to keep... (Associated Press) 
 
 TOKYO (AP) — North Korea has lobbed another verbal salvo at Washington ahead of an increasingly embattled plan for its leader, Kim Jong Un, and President Donald Trump to meet next month, calling Vice President Mike Pence a "political dummy" and saying it is just as ready to meet in a nuclear confrontation as at the negotiating table. 
 
 The outburst at Pence, issued in the name of a top Foreign Ministry official, comes on the heels of another sharp rebuke of Trump's newly appointed national security adviser, John Bolton, and has raised concerns a major gap has opened between the two sides just weeks before the June 12 summit in Singapore. 
 
 In both cases, Pyongyang was trying to push back against hard-line comments suggesting North Korea may end up like Libya if it doesn't move forward quickly and irreversibly with concrete measures to get rid of its nuclear weapons. 
 
 Choe Son Hui, a vice minister of foreign affairs, was quoted Thursday by the North's state-run news agency slamming as "ignorant" and "stupid" comments Pence made in an interview with Fox News that compared the nuclear-capable North to Libya. Libya gave up its program at an early stage only to see its longtime dictator overthrown and brutally killed years later. 
 
 She questioned whether the summit would be worthwhile if the remarks reflect Washington's position. 
 
 "We will neither beg the U.S. for dialogue nor take the trouble to persuade them if they do not want to sit together with us," KCNA quoted her as saying. "Whether the U.S. will meet us at a meeting room or encounter us at nuclear-to-nuclear showdown is entirely dependent upon the decision and behavior of the United States." 
 
 The summit plan has hit a number of speed bumps recently as both sides have begun trading barbs and taking tougher positions. Trump met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Tuesday at the White House for consultations and suggested the summit could be delayed or even called off entirely. 
 
 Even so, both sides still seem to want to hold the meeting, which would be unprecedented. 
 
 Success in talks would be a huge accomplishment for Trump. Meeting with the U.S. president as an equal on the world stage would be a major coup for Kim. 
 
 Despite its insults to Pence and defiant rhetorical flourishes, Choe's statement did not directly criticize Trump and carefully noted that she would only recommend the North Korean leader withdraw from the meeting if Washington "clings to unlawful and outrageous acts." 
 
 Meanwhile, officials from the two sides are reportedly planning to meet in Singapore this weekend to further discuss the agenda and logistics. And North Korea was moving forward with a major gesture of goodwill ahead of the summit by dismantling its nuclear test site. 
 
 The North, which has vowed to stop all underground nuclear testing and intercontinental ballistic missile launches, has invited foreign media to the remote site to observe a ceremony to mark the closing. The ceremony was expected to be held Thursday or Friday, depending on the weather. 
 
 Choe, a veteran diplomat and former head of the North America desk at the North's Foreign Ministry, was responding to comments Pence made to Fox News this week that it would be a "mistake" for the North Koreans to think they can "play" Trump. Pence said both the Clinton and Bush administrations had been "played" by the North Korean government. 
 
 "We offered concessions to the North Korean regime in exchange for promises to end their nuclear weapons program, only to see them break those promises and abandon them," Pence said, adding that if Pyongyang does not go along with talks to give up its nuclear weapons, Washington could return to the "Libya model." 
 
 That suggestion — which Trump had earlier seemed to distance himself from — is especially inflammatory to Pyongyang. 
 
 The Libya model refers to negotiations in 2004 that led to the shipping of nuclear components to the U.S. from Libya under Moammar Gadhafi. But in Pyongyang's mind the most important part of the story is what came after that. Gadhafi was deposed after a 42-year reign and killed in 2011 — the year Kim assumed power in North Korea — while his country spiraled into chaos. 
 
 "In view of the remarks of the U.S. high-ranking politicians who have not yet woken up to this stark reality and compare the DPRK to Libya that met a tragic fate, I come to think that they know too little about us," Choe said, using the acronym for North Korea's official name. 
 
 She added: "To borrow their words, we can also make the U.S. taste an appalling tragedy it has neither experienced nor even imagined up to now." 
 
 ___ 
 
 Talmadge is the AP's Pyongyang bureau chief. Follow him on Instagram and Twitter: @EricTalmadge ||||| Image copyright Reuters Image caption Mike Pence is a "political dummy", says North Korea 
 
 A senior North Korean official has dismissed remarks by US Vice-President Mike Pence as "stupid", casting further uncertainty about a planned meeting between the two countries' leaders. 
 
 Choe Son-hui said the North would not "beg" for dialogue and warned of a "nuclear showdown" if diplomacy failed. 
 
 In recent days, both sides have said that the 12 June Trump-Kim summit could be delayed or even called off. 
 
 North Korea insists it will not give up its nuclear weapons unilaterally. 
 
 Why Choe's statement matters 
 
 Choe Son-hui has been involved in several diplomatic interactions with the US over the past decade. She is one of Kim Jong-un's top aides and analysts say her statement will have been sanctioned by the leader himself. 
 
 It came days after Mr Pence warned that North Korea "may end like Libya" - where then-leader Muammar Gaddafi was killed by rebels in 2011 after renouncing nuclear weapons eight years earlier. 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Viewpoint: Why Trump's summit strategy was so unusual 
 
 Ms Choe, in an article carried by the state news agency KCNA on Thursday, said Mr Pence had made "unbridled and impudent remarks". 
 
 She added: "As a person involved in US affairs, I cannot suppress my surprise at such ignorant and stupid remarks gushing from the mouth of the US vice-president. 
 
 "Whether the US will meet us at a meeting room or encounter us at nuclear-to-nuclear showdown is entirely dependent upon the decision and behaviour of the United States." 
 
 Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Why North Korea is angry at this man: John Bolton 
 
 Meanwhile North Korea is pressing ahead with plans to dismantle its only nuclear testing facility later this week. 
 
 The Punggye-ri site is located in a remote part of the north-west of the country. A group of international journalists, who have been invited to observe the event, are on their way there. 
 
 How this story has developed 
 
 - 10 May: Trump says he will meet Kim in Singapore on 12 June 
 
 - 12 May: North Korea announces dismantling of test site 
 
 - 16 May: North threatens to scrap summit over comments by US National Security John Bolton about "Libyan model" 
 
 - 18 May: Trump distances himself from Bolton, saying US is not pushing for Libya-style denuclearisation 
 
 - 22 May: Trump insists that unless the US gets "certain conditions... we won't have the meeting" 
 
 'Careful diplomacy requires careful messaging' 
 
 Analysis from Laura Bicker, BBC News, Seoul 
 
 So we are back to name calling and threats of nuclear war - just weeks before the planned summit. 
 
 Some may say this is a typical Pyongyang power play. But it was also so avoidable. 
 
 North Korea had made it clear last week that mentioning the Libyan model of denuclearisation touched a nerve. Firstly because the Gaddafi regime collapsed and he was killed, but also because the North believe its weapons programme is far more advanced than Libya's ever was. 
 
 So to even mention the two countries in the same context will be a grave insult and Pyongyang may feel that Washington is not showing it the respect it deserves. 
 
 The US had been warned, and yet Mr Pence decided to repeat the comparison anyway. Careful diplomacy requires careful messaging and careful language, and North Korea clearly feels the Trump administration has shown a lack of discipline in this regard. 
 
 It is interesting that Pyongyang decided not to target Donald Trump, who also made similar remarks. Aiming the insults at those around the president rather than Mr Trump himself may suggest North Korea is not ready to throw away the prospect of a summit quite yet. 
 
 Please upgrade your browser to view this content. Timeline hide How Trump and Kim have changed their tone What happened next? Show all Was this timeline useful? Yes No Thank you for your feedback. Share this timeline ||||| Following a meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, President Trump suggested that a planned summit between the U.S. and North Korea could be delayed. Gerald F. Seib explains why. Photo: Getty Images 
 
 North Korea’s senior envoy for U.S. affairs renewed a threat to call off a planned summit with President Donald Trump and warned that Pyongyang could “make the U.S. taste an appalling tragedy it has neither experienced nor even imagined.” 
 
 In its most direct language aimed at Washington following a recent rapprochement between the two countries, Choe Son Hui, the North’s vice minister of foreign affairs, said if the June 12 talks were called off, the U.S. could instead face off with North Korea in a “nuclear-to-nuclear showdown.” 
 
 ...
– The US has a simple choice, according to Pyongyang: Meet North Korea at the negotiating table, or in a "nuclear-to-nuclear showdown." Senior North Korean official Choe Son Hui put the planned June 12 summit between President Trump and Kim Jong Un in even more doubt Thursday with a blistering statement that warned Pyongyang wouldn't "beg" for dialogue and called Mike Pence a "political dummy," the Wall Street Journal reports. Choe, the North's vice minister of foreign affairs, slammed Pence for comparing North Korea to Libya in the context of denuclearization. "I cannot suppress my surprise at such ignorant and stupid remarks gushing out from the mouth of the US vice president," she said. Choe—who warned that Pyongyang could make the US "taste an appalling tragedy it has neither experienced nor even imagined"—was responding to Pence's comment to Fox News earlier this week, in which he said the Clinton and Obama administrations had been "played" by North Korea and it would be a mistake for the Koreans to think they could do the same to Trump, the AP reports. The BBC notes that Choe is one of Kim's top aides and her statements will have been sanctioned by the leader. Trump said Tuesday that the summit "may not work out" for June 12, but he sounded more optimistic Wednesday, before Choe's remarks were released. "Right now we're looking at it, we're talking about it, and they’re talking to us," he told Fox. "We have certain conditions. We'll see what happens. But there's a good chance."