‘We can’t allow’ N. Korea to improve missiles, Trump says

South Korean protesters stage a rally to oppose a plan to deploy the advanced U.S. missile defense system called Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, near U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, April 29, 2017. A North Korean mid-range ballistic missile apparently failed shortly after launch Saturday, South Korea and the United States said. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A South Korean protester holds up a card during a rally to oppose a plan to deploy the advanced U.S. missile defense system called Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, near U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, April 29, 2017. A North Korean mid-range ballistic missile apparently failed shortly after launch Saturday, South Korea and the United States said. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

FILE - In this April 15, 2017 file photo, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un waves during a military parade in Pyongyang, North Korea to celebrate the 105th birth anniversary of Kim Il Sung, the country’s late founder and grandfather of current ruler Kim Jong Un. A North Korean mid-range ballistic missile apparently failed shortly after launch Saturday, April 29, South Korea and the United States said, the second such test-fire flop in recent weeks but a clear message of defiance as a U.S. supercarrier conducts drills in nearby waters. (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E, File)

A North Korean mid-range ballistic missile apparently failed shortly after launch Saturday, South Korea and the United States said, the second such test-fire flop in recent weeks but a clear message of defiance as a U.S. supercarrier conducts drills in nearby waters. (Associated Press)

The USS Carl Vinson sails offshore Nagasaki prefecture, southern Japan Saturday, April 29, 2017. The USS Carl Vinson is heading north toward the Korean peninsula in a show of force after satellite images suggested North Korea may be preparing to conduct a nuclear test. A North Korean mid-range ballistic missile apparently failed shortly after launch Saturday, South Korea and the United States said, the third test-fire flop just this month but a clear message of defiance as a U.S. supercarrier conducts drills in nearby waters. (Kyodo News via AP)

The USS Carl Vinson sails offshore Nagasaki prefecture, southern Japan Saturday, April 29, 2017. The USS Carl Vinson is heading north toward the Korean peninsula in a show of force after satellite images suggested North Korea may be preparing to conduct a nuclear test. A North Korean mid-range ballistic missile apparently failed shortly after launch Saturday, South Korea and the United States said, the third test-fire flop just this month but a clear message of defiance as a U.S. supercarrier conducts drills in nearby waters. (Kyodo News via AP)

South Korean Foreign Ministry’s spokesman Cho June-hyuck speaks to the media during a briefing at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, April 29, 2017. A North Korean mid-range ballistic missile apparently failed shortly after launch Saturday, South Korea and the United States said, the third test-fire flop just this month but a clear message of defiance as a U.S. supercarrier conducts drills in nearby waters. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

South Korean Foreign Ministry’s spokesman Cho June-hyuck speaks to the media during a briefing at the Foreign Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, April 29, 2017. A North Korean mid-range ballistic missile apparently failed shortly after launch Saturday, South Korea and the United States said, the third test-fire flop just this month but a clear message of defiance as a U.S. supercarrier conducts drills in nearby waters. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)
SEOUL, South Korea — President Donald Trump said after North Korea’s latest failed rocket launch that communist leader Kim Jong-Un will eventually develop better missiles, and “we can’t allow it to happen.”
In a taped interview broadcast Sunday on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” the president would not discuss the possibility of military action, saying: “It is a chess game. I just don’t want people to know what my thinking is.”
Separately, Trump’s national security adviser, Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, said North Korea’s most recent missile test represents “open defiance of the international community.” He said North Korea poses “a grave threat,” not just to the U.S. and its Asian allies, but also to China.
Speaking on “Fox News Sunday,” McMaster said it is important “for all of us to confront this regime, this regime that is pursuing the weaponization of a missile with a nuclear weapon.”
“This is something that we know we cannot tolerate,” McMaster said.
On Saturday, a North Korean midrange ballistic missile broke up a few minutes after launch, the third test-fire flop this month. The program’s repeated failures over the past few years have given rise to suspicions of U.S. sabotage.
In the CBS interview, the president was asked why the North’s rockets keep blowing up.
“I’d rather not discuss it,” he said. “But perhaps they’re just not very good missiles. But eventually, he’ll have good missiles.”
He added: “And if that happens, we can’t allow it to happen.”
Trump also called North Korea’s leader “a pretty smart cookie” for being able to hold onto power after taking over at a young age. “People are saying, ‘Is he sane?’ I have no idea,” the president said.
McMaster said that Trump “has made clear that he is going to resolve this issue one way or the other,” but that the president’s preference is to work with China and others to resolve it without military action.
That means, McMaster said, working to enforce current U.N. sanctions and perhaps ratcheting them up. “And it also means being prepared for military operations if necessary,” he said.
Trump said he believes China’s president, Xi Jinping, has been putting pressure on North Korea over its missile and nuclear weapons programs.