During the Group of 7 summit in France, President Donald Trump commented on the latest reports on North Korea’s missile tests, saying that he was not happy with the launches, dismissing at the same time the series of weapons tests as not violating any agreement.
“I’m not happy about it but again he’s not in violation of any agreement,” Trump said when asked about the latest short-range missile launches during a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
“I discussed long-range ballistic and that he cannot do and he hasn’t been doing it and he hasn’t been doing nuclear testing. He has done short-range, much more standard missiles, a lot of people are testing those missiles, not just him. We are in the world of missiles folks, whether you like it or not,” he added, according to CNBC.
On the other hand, Abe called the latest launch that took place on Saturday, a violation of “the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.”
North Korea is the only country to have tested nuclear weapons this century, although it has put these tests to a halt in hopes of getting relief from damaging economic sanctions from the U.S. and the international community.
Its recent launches seem to be an effort to gain leverage after nuclear talks with Washington fell apart and are expected to resume soon. Under Kim Jong-un, North Korea has conducted its most powerful nuclear test, launched its first-ever intercontinental ballistic missile and threatened to send missiles into the waters near the U.S. territory of Guam, CNBC adds.
In the past eight years, the North Korean leader has fired more than 90 missiles and had four nuclear weapons tests, more than the previous two leaders launched in a 27-year period.
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