Trump ‘not happy’ with North Korea missile tests but denies they violate agreement

President Trump on Sunday said he’s “not happy” about North Korea’s persistent testing of short-range missiles but again denied that the launches violate any agreement. 

The president was asked about the tests during a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the sidelines of the Group of Seven (G-7) summit. Abe and other U.S. allies have been adamant that the North Korean tests are a violation of a United Nations resolution, but the president has downplayed their significance.{mosads}

“I’m not happy about it. But again, he’s not in violation of an agreement,” Trump told reporters.

The president asserted that the short-ranged missile launches North Korea has repeatedly conducted in recent weeks were similar to other countries’ tests.

Abe has expressed concerns over the launches and said Sunday that the testing of the short-range ballistic missiles “clearly violates the relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions.”

“So in that sense, it was extremely regrettable for us to experience another round of short-range ballistic missiles by North Korea in recent days,” Abe said.

“I can understand how the prime minister of Japan feels,” Trump added, claiming there was no daylight between their positions.

But the president has put a premium on his relationship with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and has been reluctant to criticize him since the two men first met face to face last year. Trump and Kim have held three in-person summits to discuss denuclearization, but they have not yielded any concrete progress, and North Korea has resumed testing ballistic missiles.

The president said earlier this month that he’d received a “beautiful” letter from Kim, adding that he expected the two men could meet again for talks.

“We’re going to see what’s happening,” Trump said Friday. “He likes testing missiles.”