John Bolton: US wants to take North Korean nukes to Tennessee

U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton / REUTERS

U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton said Sunday there will be no benefits to North Korea before it fully dismantles all elements of its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un are set to meet in Singapore next month to discuss the issue of the North's denuclearization.

The U.S. will be putting on the table the dismantlement of North Korea's nuclear weapons and equipment, as well as its ballistic missile program and chemical and biological weapons, Trump's top national security aide told ABC News.

"I think the implementation of the decision means getting rid of all the nuclear weapons, dismantling them, taking them to Oak Ridge, Tennessee," Bolton said, referring to the site of a nuclear weapons plant, which stores Libya's dismantled nuclear weapons equipment.

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"It means getting rid of the uranium enrichment and plutonium reprocessing capabilities," he added. "It means addressing the ballistic missile issue ... They're going to have to reveal all of their locations. They're going to have to allow open inspection."

Such steps will lead to the U.S. goal of permanent, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of North Korea, according to Bolton.

"And that's something that has to happen before the benefits start to flow," he said. "In many respects, that's in North Korea's hands. If they want to see opening to the rest of the world, if they want to become a normal nation like South Korea, the quicker they denuclearize, the quicker that will come."

The U.S. is ready to begin trade and investment with North Korea "as soon as we can," he added. (Yonhap)

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