U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton has suggested that President Donald Trump's remarks that the North Korean nuclear threat is over should not be taken literally.

After returning from his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore last month, Trump tweeted that "everybody can now feel much safer than the day he took office" and "there is no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea."   

Speaking in an interview with ABC News on Sunday, Bolton said that the president’s comments should be placed into context and that Trump meant that the North would no longer be a threat if it fulfills the commitments it made on denuclearization.

Bolton said that the test will be what North Korea actually does to live up to the pledge that it made in Singapore. 

He refused to give specific answers to a question asking if he thinks Pyongyang is meeting its commitments to denuclearization, adding that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is currently determining that through his meetings with the North.

[Photo : YONHAP News]