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[webfact]

Bolton reminds Kim of missile pledge after North Korea warns of 'new road'

By David Brunnstrom and Josh Smith

 

U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton attends a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the Blue House in Seoul, South Korea, June 30, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/Files

 

WASHINGTON/SEOUL (Reuters) - U.S. national security adviser John Bolton reminded North Korea on Tuesday of its leader's pledge to President Donald Trump not to resume launches of intercontinental-range missiles after Pyongyang conducted its fourth short-range missile test in less than two weeks and warned it might pursue "a new road."

 

Trump and his administration have played down the series of short-range tests since July 25 and on Tuesday U.S. Defence Secretary Mark Esper said the United States would not overreact and would keep the door open to talks.

 

Bolton told Fox News Channel the testing appeared aimed at getting the short-range missiles fully operational and Trump was keeping a close eye on developments.

 

"The president and Kim Jong Un have an understanding that Kim Jong Un is not going to launch longer range, intercontinental range ballistic missiles, and so I think the president is watching this very, very carefully."

 

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the launch of tactical guided missiles on Tuesday were a warning to the U.S. and South Korea's joint military drills, state media KCNA said.

 

North Korea fired short-range missiles into the sea off its east coast for the fourth time in less than two weeks on Tuesday, while criticizing the drills and deployment of high-tech weapons.

 

It has warned the drills could derail dialogue and of a possible end to its freeze of nuclear and long-range missile tests in place since 2017, which Trump has repeatedly held up as evidence of the success of more than a year of engagement with Kim.

 

North Korea's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday it was committed to diplomacy and Pyongyang has given Washington until the year-end to soften its policy of sanctions and political pressure aimed at pressing Kim to give up his nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.

 

But a statement from its Foreign Ministry spokesman on Tuesday said the military drills violated a pledge by Trump to Kim and warned that if Washington and Seoul disregard its repeated warnings, "we will make them pay (a) heavy price."

 

Pyongyang "will be compelled to seek a new road as we have already indicated" if South Korea and the United States continue with hostile military moves, he added.

 

The missile tests have come in spite of a June 30 meeting between Kim and Trump at which they agreed to resume talks between working-level officials stalled since a failed second summit in Hanoi in February.

 

NORTH KOREA SEEKING CONCESSIONS

The talks have yet to resume and analysts believe the North Korean missile tests have been aimed both at improving military capabilities as well as at extracting more concessions, but Washington has shown no sign of budging on the key issue of sanctions relief.

 

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the missiles launched on Tuesday flew about 450 km (280 miles) and reached an altitude of 37 km (23 miles), putting all of South Korea in range.

 

They were launched from the western part of North Korea, flew across the peninsula, and landed in the sea off the east coast, KCNA said, in what analysts said was showing North Korea's confidence in its missile technology.

 

South Korea's defence ministry said the launches went against the spirit of easing tension on the Korean peninsula.

 

"Part of what's happening now is that North Korea is expressing frustrations with a general lack of progress on inter-Korean agenda while increasing leverage in U.S.-North Korea negotiations by demonstrating how its programs could and will continue to advance," said Jenny Town, managing editor at 38 North, a website that tracks North Korea.

 

At a U.N.-sponsored Conference on Disarmament in Geneva on Tuesday, a North Korean diplomat accused Washington of "inciting military tension" by holding the joint exercises and warned that Pyongyang would have to "reconsider the major steps we have taken so far."

 

U.S. disarmament ambassador Robert Wood rejected the charge and said Washington was committed to denuclearization of North Korea as agreed by Trump and Kim at a first summit last year in Singapore.

 

"We very much look forward to returning to discussions with the North in order to carry out the vision laid out at that summit by President Trump and chairman Kim," he said.

 

Esper told reporters travelling with him to Japan the missiles launched on Tuesday were short-range ballistic types and he would discuss the North Korea issue with counterparts in Japan and South Korea.

 

"The key is to keep the door open for diplomacy ... we're not going to over react to these, but we monitor them, we watch them closely and we're cognizant of what's happening," the U.S. defence secretary added.

 

He said the current exercise with South Korea, known as Dong Maeng and largely computer simulated, was underway and at this point there was no plan to alter future joint military drills with South Korea.

 

A senior U.S. defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the United States had not seen the progress from North Korea it would have liked and Pyongyang had not reciprocated Washington's gesture in suspending and altering a number of exercises over the past year.

 

(Reporting by David Brunnstrom and Mohammad Zargham in WASHINGTON; Idrees Ali in TOKYO, Josh Smith and Joyce Lee in SEOUL and Stephanie Nebehay in GENEVA; Editing by Susan Thomas and Sandra Maler)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-08-07

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[Puchaiyank]

Kim & company are still laughing at Bolton...when has N Korea ever kept a promise...oh, yes, they promise to hunt anyone who exposes this government's demented misbehavior and kill them anywhere in the world...

 

Promise made...promise kept...????

[klauskunkel]

4 hours ago, webfact said:

Pyongyang "will be compelled to seek a new road

Thailand has several road maps for sale

[spidermike007]

Just another instance of Trump being outsmarted, outplayed, and out negotiated, with a leader of another nation. Happens all the time. The primary issue, is that when Trump enters the room, no matter who he is dealing with, he is suffering with an IQ deficit of between 30 and 80 points. And he comes totally unprepared, because he already knows everything, in his own mind. So, of course he gets outplayed. That is just one of the reasons he is such a dangerous man. 

 

A message to Bolton. Kim made a promise based on the conditions that the US starts to ease sanctions on them. Has that been forgotten, within the small, and hubris filled mind of Blindfold Bolton? Are all US trade talks completely one sided? No wonder nothing ever happens. Outplayed by Xi, Kim, MBS, Putin, and who else?

[usviphotography]

3 hours ago, spidermike007 said:

Just another instance of Trump being outsmarted, outplayed, and out negotiated, with a leader of another nation. Happens all the time. The primary issue, is that when Trump enters the room, no matter who he is dealing with, he is suffering with an IQ deficit of between 30 and 80 points. And he comes totally unprepared, because he already knows everything, in his own mind. So, of course he gets outplayed. That is just one of the reasons he is such a dangerous man. 

 

A message to Bolton. Kim made a promise based on the conditions that the US starts to ease sanctions on them. Has that been forgotten, within the small, and hubris filled mind of Blindfold Bolton? Are all US trade talks completely one sided? No wonder nothing ever happens. Outplayed by Xi, Kim, MBS, Putin, and who else?

 

And yet Kim has kept all his promises to Trump. So who is the one who has been "outsmarted"? I'd say it is you and the anti-Trump media. US and South Korea are holding provocative military drills. Kim obviously needed to respond in some way, so he did, but he made sure to do it in a way that keeps his promises to President Trump. Everything is still on track. More talks next month. Trump almost sure to declare a formal end to the Korean War in time for 2020 elections. 

[bristolboy]

1 hour ago, usviphotography said:

 

And yet Kim has kept all his promises to Trump. So who is the one who has been "outsmarted"? I'd say it is you and the anti-Trump media. US and South Korea are holding provocative military drills. Kim obviously needed to respond in some way, so he did, but he made sure to do it in a way that keeps his promises to President Trump. Everything is still on track. More talks next month. Trump almost sure to declare a formal end to the Korean War in time for 2020 elections. 

So, like Trump, you accepted Kim's characterization of the joint US-South Korean exercises as provocative. Why provocative?

Didn't the North regularly threaten the south? Weren't tunnels dug from North Korea under the demilitarized zone to South Korea? 4 so far have been found.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/04/world/asia/north-korea-south-korea-demilitarized-zone-tunnel-tourism.html

[bristolboy]

1 hour ago, usviphotography said:

 

And yet Kim has kept all his promises to Trump. So who is the one who has been "outsmarted"? I'd say it is you and the anti-Trump media. US and South Korea are holding provocative military drills. Kim obviously needed to respond in some way, so he did, but he made sure to do it in a way that keeps his promises to President Trump. Everything is still on track. More talks next month. Trump almost sure to declare a formal end to the Korean War in time for 2020 elections. 

And what did Trump get for the US concessons. That North Korea would stop testing its missiles. Not that North Korea would halt building nuclear weapons. And in fact it has gone on increasing its nuclear arsenal.

[bristolboy]

1 hour ago, usviphotography said:

 

And yet Kim has kept all his promises to Trump. 

Trump 'Very Disappointed' if N. Korea Is Rebuilding Missile Site

https://www.voanews.com/east-asia-pacific/trump-very-disappointed-if-n-korea-rebuilding-missile-site

North Korea rebuilds part of missile site it promised Trump to dismantle

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/east-asia/south-korea-sees-signs-north-korea-restoring-part-of-missile-launch-site-yonhap
 

[spidermike007]

1 hour ago, bristolboy said:

And what did Trump get for the US concessons. That North Korea would stop testing its missiles. Not that North Korea would halt building nuclear weapons. And in fact it has gone on increasing its nuclear arsenal.

Nothing more could have been expected from one of America's least talented negotiators, and a man who comes to every meeting unprepared. Why should he prep? He already knows everything about anything. He is the smartest man in the world, after all. 

Edited August 7, 2019 by spidermike007

[Srikcir]

Maybe someone should remind Bolton that the idea to have China also pressure Kim to more productive denuclearization talks has been virtually destroyed with a new round of Trump tariffs against Chinese imports effective in a month.

Trump has essentially declared an economic war against China, calling it a currency manipulator. China has a ready foil to retaliate and it's called "Kim Jung-On."

If Kim shoots off an ICBM, what is Trump going to do?

[IAMHERE]

Create enough 'roads' and a 'Hub' is certain to emerge. Hubs make good targets. 

[zaZa9]

There is no 'outsmarting' anyone.

North Korea is only relevant while it continues to develop nuclear weapons.

The day it desists is the day it returns to a backwater..

Any 'smart' person  can see that .

 

Nothing will change.