Lee Min-hyung joined The Korea Times in 2014 and has worked as a journalist mainly in Korea’s finance, tech and automotive industry. He specializes in content creation, breaking news and in-depth analysis currently on transportation and mobility. You can reach him via mhlee@koreatimes.co.kr.
Bolton issues warning messages to North Korea
By Lee Min-hyung
U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton
By Lee Min-hyung
U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton issued a warning to North Korea Sunday (local time) over its recent moves to rebuild missile facilities.
“The leverage is on our side right now, not on North Korea's,” he said in a local media interview.
The remark came amid growing signs that the North is apparently moving towards restarting its nuclear and missile programs in the wake of the failure of its second summit with the U.S. last month.
In recent days, a number of satellite images have shown that Pyongyang has started construction at its Sohae Satellite Launching Station at Tongchang-ri. Some think tanks, including the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), have claimed that the facility has returned to normal operation status after analyzing the images.
The hawkish adviser, however, did not give details on what Washington will do in response to the regime's seemingly renewed activity at the facility.
“I'd rather not get into the specifics,” Bolton said. “The United States government spends a lot of resources and efforts, so we do not have to rely on commercial satellite imagery.”
He went on to underline that Washington would continue to keep close tabs on any unusual movement taking place inside the reclusive regime.
“We've seen a lot in North Korea,” he said. “We watch it constantly. There is a lot of activity all the time in North Korea, but I'm not going to speculate on what that particular commercial satellite picture shows.”
It remains to be seen whether the recent crack in trust between Washington and Pyongyang will get in the way of their denuclearization talks or a possible third summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
North Korea has yet to respond to the controversy.
But expectations are that Washington will take additional steps against the North if the regime continues to keep mum and take further measures that go against the “peace agreement” reached during the first Trump-Kim summit last June in Singapore.
At that time, both sides pledged to make bilateral efforts to build a lasting and stable peace on the Korean Peninsula.
Following the landmark summit, the North didn't take steps toward nuclear or missile armament to fulfill its pledge for complete denuclearization of the peninsula, although it halted testing.
But with the highly-anticipated second Hanoi summit ending in failure, the rare momentum for dialogue between the two has been halted.
Meanwhile, Bolton also said he would have talks with his South Korean counterpart Chung Eui-yong, Monday to resolve the ongoing deadlock in denuclearization talks.