"Constant pressure" on North Korea and Chairman Kim Jong Un is the only thing that will work if the country is to ever denuclearize, Rep. Pete King, R-N.Y., said Friday while calling for the United States to keep full-scale military exercises active in South Korea.
"I didn't trust North Korea then; I don't trust him [Kim] now," Rep. King told Fox News' "America's Newsroom," when asked what he thought the country and its leaders would do after the Hanoi summit between President Donald Trump and Kim ended without an agreement.
"We have to assume they are going to have to cheat, assume they keep their nuclear weapons, no matter what," King continued, adding it is important for the United States to keep its sanctions on and keep some of its military activity active in South Korea.
"I think the military exercises are important because, again, really all Kim Jong Un is like an organized crime leader who runs an organized crime family, and he calls it North Korea," King said. "There is no reason for him to be there other than to have nuclear weapons. We have to keep that in mind in dealing with him."
It is important to make Kim realize reaching a deal means much more to him than it does the United States, King continued.
"We can survive; he cannot," King said. "We also have to be careful not to scare away our allies. Japan has to know we will be there and stay there, Taiwan, and South Korea."
Trump should also continue pressure on China, and not try to get a quick deal, King said.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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