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US: North Korea Could Dismantle Nuclear Program within a Year

by Ken Bredemeier

   WASHINGTON --

   U.S. national security adviser John Bolton said Sunday he believes that
   most of North Korea's nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs
   can be dismantled within a year.

   Bolton told CBS News that if Pyongyang has already made the "strategic
   decision" to end its weapons development program and "they're
   cooperative, we can move very quickly. Physically we would be able to
   dismantle the overwhelming bulk of their programs within a year."

   But Bolton declined to comment on a Washington Post report that North
   Korea is trying to obscure and hide its nuclear program even after
   North Korean leader Kim Jong Un agreed at last month's Singapore summit
   with U.S. President Donald Trump to "work toward denuclearization of
   the Korean Peninsula."

   "We're very well aware of North Korea's patterns of behavior over
   decades of negotiating with the United States," Bolton said. " We know
   exactly what the risks are of them using negotiations to drag out the
   length of time they have to continue their nuclear, chemical,
   biological weapons programs and ballistic missiles. There's not any
   starry-eyed feeling among the group doing this."

   There were no details in the Singapore pact that Kim and Trump signed
   on how and when Pyongyang might end its nuclear weapons program. Bolton
   said that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo would soon begin
   discussions with North Korean officials on details of the disarmament.

   Bolton expressed optimism that Kim would carry out his country's
   denuclearization.

   "Kim Jong Un was very emphatic several times in Singapore he was
   different from prior regimes," Bolton said. " Now we'll let their
   actions speak for themselves."

   In a separate interview, Trump told Fox News that he had "a very good
   chemistry" with Kim at the summit and believes that Kim will carry out
   his announced intention to end his nuclear weapons development.

   "I made a deal with him," Trump said. "I shook hands with him. I really
   believes he means it."