Donald Trump says North Korea talks going ahead despite missile test
- A delegation headed by North Korea’s chief nuclear negotiator has landed in Sweden for denuclearisation discussions
- The UN Security Council is to meet next week to discuss the latest test, which an analyst has described as a significant step in Pyongyang’s nuclear programme
US President Donald Trump on Thursday brushed off North Korea’s testing of a submarine-launched ballistic missile, saying that planned talks with Pyongyang would go ahead anyway.
“They want to talk and we’ll be talking to them,” Trump told reporters at the White House in his first public reaction to North Korea’s announcement of what it called a “new phase” in its arsenal.
“We’ll see,” Trump added, when asked if the missile test had gone too far for him.
The test was by far the most significant since Pyongyang first began a dialogue with Washington in 2018 over pressure to give up its nuclear weapons. Analysts said the new capability marks a significant step in strengthening that programme.
“We assess that it was a short- to medium-range ballistic missile. And I would say that we have no indication that it was launched from a submarine but rather a sea-based platform,” a US military spokesman, Colonel Pat Ryder, told reporters.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Security Council is expected to hold closed-door talks early next week on the latest test, diplomats said. The talks were requested by Britain, France and Germany, as the European powers push for the world body to keep up pressure on Pyongyang. North Korea is banned from ballistic missile launches by Security Council resolutions.