National security adviser John Bolton said Sunday that the Trump administration is not naive when it comes to North Korea’s tendency to deviate from promises made to the U.S.
During an appearance with “Face the Nation” on CBS, Bolton brushed aside new reports that North Korea could be hiding portions of its nuclear program from the U.S., despite an agreement leader Kim Jong Un signed with President Trump last month stating an intent to completely denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.
“We’re very well aware of North Korea’s patterns of behavior over decades of negotiating with the United States. We know exactly what the risks are of them using negotiations to drag out the length of time they have to continue their nuclear, chemical, biological weapons programs, and ballistic missiles,” Bolton said, noting the administration could dismantle North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs “within a year” if Pyongyang allowed it.
“But there’s not any starry-eyed feeling among the group doing this that we’re well, well aware of what the North Koreans have done in the past,” Bolton said.
A Saturday report from the Washington Post signaled a distrust of the North Korean regime by U.S. intelligence officials who believe the government is still working behind the scenes to manufacture fuel for nuclear weapons.
Bolton noted that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has the intention of holding a discussion with North Korean government officials on what the promised dismantling “all of their WMD and ballistic missiles” will actually entail.
“If they have the strategic decision already made to do that and they’re cooperative we can move very quickly,” Bolton added. “And it’s to North Korea’s advantage to see these programs dismantled very quickly because then the elimination of sanctions aid by South Korea and Japan and others can all begin to flow.”