7:09
- ABC News
- March 11, 2018
Obama wants NK meeting to succeed: Former aide
Kim Jong Un cannot be trusted, former Obama aide said.
7:09
On Saturday, Trump criticized the strategies taken by former presidents in dealing with escalating nuclear aggression from North Korea.
“They had their shot and all they did was nothing,” Trump said at a rally in Pennsylvania.
Rhodes said Sunday that the Obama administration never fielded a direct offer to meet with a North Korean leader.
According to data from the Center for Strategic and International Studies Missile Defense project, the number of missile launches by North Korea steadily increased between 2012 and 2016. North Korea completed two nuclear tests in 2016, the second of which they said demonstrated a nuclear weapon capable of being mounted on a warhead. In 2016, by ABC News’ count, the North conducted 21 missile tests.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/International/intl-2017-04-ap-jrl-171222_4x3t_384.jpg\")
The Obama administration implemented a policy of “strategic patience” that focused on increasing sanctions against North Korea. Though the Trump administration has continued with sanctions, Vice President Mike Pence condemned the policy in April stating that “the era of strategic patience is over.”
Rhodes said Obama administration policies on North Korea have been mischaracterized.
“We pursued a pressure track on North Korea for eight years,” Rhodes said. “We did tighten sanctions. We had a situation where they had tested a nuclear device in 2006 before we came into office and we just tightened the pressure for all eight years.”
Trump has said that American sanctions against North Korea will remain in place until after the proposed meeting.
In 2017, after Trump took office, North Korea has by ABC News’ count conducted 15 missile tests, three of which were intercontinental ballistic missile tests, the last being on Nov. 28. On North Korean state television, Kim Jong Un's regime claimed the latest missile was a new, nuclear-capable weapon that could reach the continental United States. North Korea has not conducted another missile test since.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/AP-Trump-Obama-Oval-02-jrl-161110_4x3t_384.jpg\")
Rhodes said on \"This Week\" that South Korean President Moon, who since taking office in 2017 has worked to advance diplomatic relations between North Korea and that U.S., is likely responsible for Kim’s willingness to meet with Trump. Rhodes also said Kim’s motives for wanting to meet with Trump ought to be considered.
“I think he wants to have the legitimacy that is conferred upon him by a meeting with the president of the United States,” Rhodes said. “And that is a very powerful thing.”
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