It was revealed this weekend that North Korea has further developed its missile program on a site known to deploy long-range missiles.
"Commercial satellite images from Planet Labs show a temporary structure at the site to accommodate the raising of a launcher arm, according to Jeffrey Lewis, director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies," NBC reported Saturday.
It's for that reason former Director of National Intelligence John Bolton lashed out at President Donald Trump.
According to Axios, Bolton suggested Trump was bluffing when he told the American people he would get North Korean dictator Kim Jong-Un to sign a nuclear disarmament treaty.
he told the site that he doesn't think the administration "really means it" when they vowed to stop North Korea, "or it would be pursuing a different course."
He went on to say that if Kim follows through on the threat to fire weapons on Christmas.
"Some experts believe North Korea may be readying to test an intercontinental ballistic missile launch soon," Reuters reported. "Which would likely end the 2018 agreement struck by its leader, Kim Jong Un, and U.S. President Donald Trump."
Bolton said that the White House should be doing something about it, but then again, "that would be very unusual" for Trump to admit he failed on North Korea.
"The idea that we are somehow exerting maximum pressure on North Korea is just unfortunately not true," Bolton told Axios.
An example would be the U.S. Navy intercepting all oil illegally sent to the country.
but again, Bolton sees Trump's effort on North Korea to be more "rhetorical" than actual. If Kim acts it would make his country look as if it bested the United States.
"We've tried. The policy's failed. We're going to go back now and make it clear that in a variety of steps, together with our allies, when we say it's unacceptable, we're going to demonstrate we will not accept it," said Bolton.
"When the president says, 'Well, I'm not worried about short-range missiles,' he's saying, 'I'm not worried about the potential risk to American troops deployed in the region or our treaty allies, South Korea and Japan,'" Bolton continued, attacking the Trump administration's work in the region.
"Time is on the side of the proliferator," Bolton explained. "The more time there is, the more time there is to develop, test and refine both the nuclear component and the ballistic missile component of the program."
