Anchor: Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan said on Wednesday that North Korea's missile launches this month were a violation of UN Security Council resolutions. His assessment diverges from U.S. President Donald Trump’s assertion that no UN resolutions were violated when North Korea fired what he claimed were "small weapons.”
Kim Bum-soo has more. 

Report:  

[Sound bite: Acting US Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan]
"Short-range missile, is that a violation? Yes."

Acting U.S. Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan says North Korea violated United Nations resolutions with its missile launches earlier this month.

[Sound bite: Acting US Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan]
"Let me just be clear: these were short-range missiles. Those are a violation of the UNSCR," 

Shanahan made the remarks to reporters en route to Jakarta as part of a week-long Asia tour as U.S. President Donald Trump is providing a virtual shield for North Korea to avoid paying a hefty price for its launches.

[Sound bite: US President Donald Trump (May 27/Tokyo)] 
"But at the same time my people think it could have been a violation, as you know. I view it differently. I view it as a man - perhaps he wants to get attention and perhaps not. Who knows? ... There have been no long-range missiles going out and I think that someday we'll have a deal." 

Speaking after the U.S.-Japan summit on Monday, Trump was referring to his national security adviser John Bolton, who said "there is no doubt" the North violated the UN resolutions. 

From a diplomatic point of view, however, it may be impractical to raise issue with a few particular missile launches.

In a briefing on Wednesday, U.S. State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus appeared hesitant to single out North Korea's missiles launches as a specific violation.

[Sound bite: US State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus]
"I would refer you back to my comments yesterday that the entirety of the WMD program that North Korea possesses is in violation of UN sanctions."
(Reporter: But the fact that they are in violation – whether it’s a redline or another aspect of the president’s policy – the UN resolutions really do command the situation, do they not?)

She responded that her government is working on eliminating the entire North Korean threat.

As Trump tries to keep Kim Jong-un on a dialogue track, she reconfirmed the U.S. remains focused on diplomacy. 
Kim Bum-soo, KBS World Radio News.