Mark Warner discusses situation in North Korea

U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, released the following statement on North Korea.

“North Korea’s pursuit and development of nuclear weapons represent a serious threat to the security of the United States and our allies. However, President Trump’s inflammatory rhetoric undermines our global credibility and is unlikely to de-escalate the situation. We need fewer fiery words and bombastic tweets from the President and his cable TV surrogates, and more effort to work with our international partners to expand missile defense and deterrence and put forward a strategy to roll back North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

“On Saturday, the UN Security Council unanimously voted to impose new sanctions on North Korea, for the eighth time since its first nuclear test in 2006. While it’s a productive step, we need to focus on enforcement, and ensure that China in particular adheres to the terms of the sanctions.

“It’s also imperative that the Trump Administration embrace a robust policymaking process to think through all of our options, and be prepared to be realistic about what response the North Korean threat might require. Improvising our way into a shooting war on the Korean peninsula without a plan puts us all at risk. Moreover, this crisis underscores the importance of sending nominations to the Senate for key national security positions, including an Ambassador to South Korea, an Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, and Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian Pacific Security Affairs.”