US national security advisor John Bolton has on Sunday launched a scathing attack on North Korea, asserting that North was “unfortunately” unwilling to take certain steps to finalize an agreement with Washington aimed at denuclearization of Korean Peninsula.
While speaking at a radio host in New York, the Hill quoted Bolton as saying, “The North Koreans were unfortunately not willing to do what they needed to do. Just last night they issued an unhelpful statement that they’re thinking of going back to nuclear and ballistic missile testing, which would not be a good idea on their part.”
Bolton added, “President Trump wants this threat resolved through negotiations. He wants North Korea to be free of nuclear weapons, that’s for sure.”
According to ANI news reports, Bolton’s remarks come two days after North vice foreign minister Choe Son-hui hit out at Washington over its “gangster-like” demands over denuclearization, further threatening to halt dialogues with the American officials and resume their missile and nuclear tests.
North’ Choe said, “We have no intention to yield to the US demands in any form, nor are we willing to engage in negotiations of this kind.”
North Korea has blamed the US for the Hanoi meeting failure between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and his US counterpart Donald Trump, which was held last month in Vietnam.
While underlining that China, a chief ally of North Korea, also wanted Peninsula denuclearization, the US NSA put forth: “The Chinese have said repeatedly they don’t want to see North Korea with nuclear weapons at all because they think it destabilizes North East Asia.”
The US has reinforced that the sanctions relief would only be done after North Korea implement its commitment of “complete and verifiable” denuclearization.