Anchor: The U.S. State Department said on Tuesday that North Korea's entire weapons of mass destruction(WMD) program violates UN Security Council resolutions. This comes as U.S. President Donald Trump downplays Pyongyang’s recent missile launches. Moreover, North Korea is emerging as an issue of contention among U.S. political figures. 
Our Park Jong-hong has this report.

Report: The U.S. State Department believes the entire North Korean WMD program is in conflict with UN Security Council resolutions.

In a regular press briefing on Tuesday, spokesperson Morgan Ortagus stopped short of condemning the North’s missile launches earlier this month, while adding that the U.S. and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are focused on efforts to negotiate a peaceful end to the North Korean WMD program.

The remarks came a day after Trump denied that North Korea had fired any ballistic missiles or violated UN Security Council resolutions.

The U.S. president's downplaying of the recent launches is seen by many as an attempt to keep diplomacy alive with North Korea.

In the meantime, the North Korea issue is fueling political debate ahead of the heavy campaign season for the U.S. presidential election next year.

Democratic presidential hopeful and former vice president Joe Biden recently denounced North Korean leader Kim Jong-un as a tyrant, a description that invoked scathing criticism from Pyongyang.

[Sound bite: Former US Vice President Joe Biden (May 18)]
"Are we a nation that embraces dictators and tyrants like Putin and Kim Jong-un? We don't, but Trump does."

President Trump seemed to support the North’s attack on the former vice president.

[Sound bite: US President Donald Trump (May 27)]
“Kim Jong-un made a statement that Joe Biden is a low-IQ individual. He probably is, based on his record. I think I agree with him on that."

Other contenders vying for the Democratic Party’s nomination, such as Senator Bernie Sanders and Mayor Pete Buttigieg of South Bend, Indiana, lashed out at Trump for siding with the North Korean leader.

[Sound bite: US Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) (May 27)]
“We don't need to be praising Kim Jong-un, or other authoritarian leaders all over the world who Trump is making good friends with.”

[Sound bite: South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg (May 27)]
"It's just one more example, though of the way that this president tries to draw attention to himself by saying things that shock the conscious, to distract us from his deep unpopularity."

Political pundits say the North Korea issue may emerge as a controversial topic as the presidential race continues to heat up.
Park Jong-hong, KBS World Radio News.

[Photo : KBS News]