White House: North Korea presents ‘unusual and extraordinary threat’

The White House in an announcement on Friday said North Korea remains an “unusual and extraordinary threat” to the United States despite President Trump’s assertion last week that Pyongyang “is no longer a nuclear threat.”

The Trump administration on Friday issued a routine notice to Congress describing the threat as reasoning for keeping sanctions in place on North Korea.

“The existence and risk of proliferation of weapons-usable fissile material on the Korean Peninsula and the actions and policies of the Government of North Korea continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States,” the notice read.

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The president, upon returning from his summit in Singapore last week with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said Pyongyang “no longer” posed a nuclear threat.

“Just landed — a long trip, but everybody can now feel much safer than the day I took office. There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea,” Trump wrote on Twitter June 13.

“Meeting with Kim Jong Un was an interesting and very positive experience. North Korea has great potential for the future!”

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), in a statement, criticized the administration for contradicting Trump’s own rhetoric on North Korea.

“The report of President Trump’s own administration completely undercuts his statements over the last few weeks,” Schumer said. “We have to treat these negotiations far more seriously than just as a photo opp. Saying the North Korea problem is solved doesn’t make it so.”

Trump and Kim signed a joint statement that said the U.S. would give Pyongyang unspecific “security guarantees” while Kim stated “his firm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”

But the statement did not include any specific details on how the two nations will reach these objectives.

Trump also said that the U.S. would pause its joint exercises with South Korea while it participates in ongoing negotiations with Pyongyang about denuclearization.

–Updated 3:47 p.m.