N. Korea missile site work catches Trump attention

WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump said Thursday he's a "little disappointed" by reports of new activity at a North Korean missile research center and long-range rocket site and time will tell if U.S. diplomacy with the reclusive country will be successful.

South Korea's military said it is carefully monitoring North Korean nuclear and missile facilities after the country's spy agency told lawmakers new activity was detected at a research center where the North is believed to build long-range missiles targeting the U.S. mainland.

Defense Ministry spokeswoman Choi Hyun-soo said the U.S. and South Korean militaries are sharing intelligence over the developments at the North's missile research center in Sanumdong on the outskirts of the capital, Pyongyang, and at a separate long-range rocket site. She did not elaborate on what the developments were.

Asked if he was disappointed in the new activity, Trump told reporters at the White House he was "a little disappointed." Then he said time will determine the future of U.S. efforts to get North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to give up his pursuit of nuclear weapons in exchange for relief from sanctions stalling economic growth.

"We'll let you know in about a year," Trump told the reporters.

Briefing reporters at the State Department later, a senior U.S. official said despite the new activity and the failure of last month's Trump-Kim summit in Hanoi to reach a denuclearization deal, the administration still believes it can reach and implement an agreement by the end of the president's first term. The official said it is important progress be made quickly but the goal is "achievable" by January 2021.

The official said the U.S. is still trying to determine exactly what North Korea is doing with recent activity but the administration will seek clarification from the North as well as intelligence analysts. The official said the Trump administration did not necessarily agree with nongovernmental analysts who believe the activity is a sign of North Korean anger following the summit. The official was not authorized to speak publicly to the state of negotiations with the North Koreans and spoke on condition of anonymity.

Trump said Wednesday his relationship with Kim remained "good" even though Trump walked away from negotiations at their high-profile meeting in Vietnam, saying the North's concessions on its nuclear program weren't enough to warrant sanctions relief.

Trump has favored direct talks with Kim, but the next stage of negotiations is likely to be conducted at lower levels. Trump's envoy to North Korea, Steve Biegun, had lunch Wednesday at the State Department with his counterparts from Japan and South Korea. The South Koreans have proposed semiofficial three-way talks with the United States and North Korea as it works to put nuclear diplomacy back on track.