Bolton: Trump is 'open to talking again' with the DPRK

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U.S. President Donald Trump is open to additional talks with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) over denuclearization but would be very disappointed if reports the country has rebuilt a rocket site prove true, White House National Security Adviser John Bolton said Thursday.

"The president's obviously open to talking again. We'll see when that might be scheduled or how it might work out," Bolton said in an interview with Fox News.

Bolton said it was too soon to make a determination on the reports of the DPRK's missile activities. "We have a lot of ways of getting information," he said. "We're going to study the situation carefully. As the president said, it would be very, very disappointing if they were taking this direction."

U.S. President Donald Trump (L) and DPRK leader Kim Jong Un smiling before a summit meeting at the Sofitel Legend Metropole in Hanoi, Vietnam, February 27, 2019. /VCG Photo

Trump said earlier Thursday that he "would be very disappointed if that were happening. It's a very early report ... We'll take a look," he told reporters.

Bolton's remarks were made after he said late Tuesday that the U.S. would step up sanctions against the DPRK to see if it was still serious about negotiations and was committed to giving up its "nuclear weapons program and everything associated with it."

Chinese state councilor and FM Wang Yi urges patience in DPRK-U.S. talks

Regarding the DPRK-U.S. talks, China urged both sides to stay patient and committed to the goal of achieving complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said during his meeting with DPRK Vice Foreign Minister Ri Kil Song in Beijing shortly after the Hanoi summit.

Later on Thursday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lu Kang also said that the Korean Peninsula issue is a long-term problem, China called for political dialogue and negotiations between the two sides, and strive to solve the problem step-by-step.

(With inputs from Reuters)

(Cover: U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton walks to a Fox News interview outside the White House in Washington, U.S., March 5, 2019. /VCG Photo)

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