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https://scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3012204/us-says-north-koreas-wmd-programme-violates-un-resolutions
Asia/ East Asia

US says North Korea’s WMD programme violates UN resolutions, after Donald Trump brushes off missile launch with ‘small weapons’ tweet

  • US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus declined to say if launches were of ballistic missiles or constituted weapons of mass destruction
  • She reiterated that sanctions will remain in place until Trump and Kim Jong-un ‘negotiate a peaceful end’ to North Korean weapons programme
People in Seoul watch television footage of North Korea's missile launch during a news programme on May 9. Photo: AP

The US State Department said on Tuesday that North Korea’s overall programme of weapons of mass destruction violated UN resolutions, after President Donald Trump brushed off recent missile launches.

Choosing words carefully after Trump’s latest warm words for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus declined to say if North Korea’s launches were of ballistic missiles or constituted weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

She said the United States wanted a favourable relationship between Trump and Kim with a goal to “negotiate a peaceful end to the North Korean WMD programme”.

“We have said many times and we will continue to reiterate that the economic sanctions will remain in place until we’re there,” she said.

The Pentagon said on May 9 that launches by North Korea that day consisted of multiple ballistic missiles that flew in excess of 300km (185 miles).

When he arrived in Japan for a weekend state visit, Trump tweeted that North Korea had tested “some small weapons” that had “disturbed some of my people, and others, but not me”.

He appeared to be referring to his National Security Adviser John Bolton, who said on Saturday there was “no doubt” that North Korea’s launches had contravened United Nations Security Council resolutions.

Trump stressed that there had been “no nuclear tests, no ballistic missiles going out, no long-range missiles going out” and added that one day there could be a deal with North Korea to end its nuclear programme.

North Korea wasted no time piling onto Bolton, who has long promoted a hawkish foreign policy, calling him a “human defect” and “war maniac”.

Asked whether Secretary of State Mike Pompeo agreed with Trump or Bolton, Ortagus said: “I don’t think it was lost on any of us that the launches were an attempt to send a message to the administration.”

She added that the United States wanted denuclearisation talks with North Korea to continue.

US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus listens during a briefing in Washington in April. Photo: AFP
US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus listens during a briefing in Washington in April. Photo: AFP

“That’s our focus here,” she said.

North Korea has previously called for Pompeo to be excluded from negotiations after he apparently pressed Trump at his February summit with Kim in Hanoi not to accept sanctions relief without further action by Pyongyang in ending its nuclear programme.

After two failed summits between Kim and Trump in the past year, North Korea test fired several rockets and missiles this month, including several guided missiles that experts said could be used to penetrate South Korean and US defences in the region.

Caricatures depicting US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on display in Seoul on Sunday. Photo: AP
Caricatures depicting US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on display in Seoul on Sunday. Photo: AP

The missiles flew on a flattened, lower-altitude trajectory, leading some officials in South Korea to question whether they should be categorised as “ballistic missiles” and therefore a violation of UN resolutions.

Additional reporting by Reuters