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.

Shanahan made the remarks to reporters en route to Jakarta as part of a week-long Asia tour, describing the projectiles fired by the North earlier this month as short-range missiles. 

However, he stressed that the U.S. remains focused on dialogue to dismantle the North's nuclear weapons program and will continue sanctions, saying that his department's job is to be prepared in the event diplomacy fails. 

Shanahan's remarks align with those made by U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton, who said last Saturday “there is no doubt” that the North’s missile tests violate UN resolutions.

The officials’ assessments diverge from U.S. President Donald Trump’s assertion that no UN resolutions were violated when North Korea fired what he claimed were "small weapons.”

State Department Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus stopped short of singling out the missile launches, but reiterated comments made a day prior that the North's entire weapons of mass destruction program violates UN Security Council resolutions.

Shanahan may have the opportunity to elaborate on his views with South Korean officials when he travels to Seoul next week.

[Photo : YONHAP News]