The President’s national security adviser said on Saturday that North Korea’s weapons tests this month “no doubt” violated the United Nations Security Council resolutions, going further than the President and other top US officials in condemning North Korea’s actions.
“The UN Security Council resolution prohibits the launch of any ballistic missiles and there is no doubt that North Korea has violated the resolution,” Bolton told reporters, speaking in Tokyo ahead of President Donald Trump’s four-day visit to Japan.
North Korea resumed testing short-range missiles earlier this month – its first missile launches since late 2017 and the first since Trump began meeting with North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un.
Trump gave a middle-of-the-road response to the tests, saying the diplomatic relationship with leader Kim would continue. But Japan assumed a harder stance, saying the move violated UN resolutions.
On Saturday, Bolton urged North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to return to denuclearization talks, telling reporters that “Trump has held the door open for Kim, the next step is for Kim to walk through it,” Reuters reported. Bolton was also supportive of Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe taking a meeting with Kim without preconditions, according to the New York Times.
In a tweet, Bolton wrote that the relationship between the US and Japan is about “a robust security alliance; space, science and tech leadership; and advancing prosperity through secure energy markets and digital networks.”
He said he believes Trump and Abe will discuss “making sure the integrity of the Security Council resolutions are maintained” during their Monday summit meeting, according to the Times.
CNN’s Kevin Liptak, Junko Ogura and Sandi Sidhu contributed to this report.
