U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Monday that North Korea "probably" violated United Nations resolutions with its missile launches last month, but that it's important to focus on the ultimate goal of denuclearization.

Pompeo made the remarks during an interview with U.S.-based Sinclair Broadcast Group during a trip to Switzerland when asked if the North's missile launches violated UN resolutions. 

The top U.S.diplomat responded that “they probably did violate the UN Security Council resolutions,” but what's more important is that the campaign that the U.S. and the world have been engaged in -- and which the resolutions are a part of -- ultimately delivers the outcome that Washington is looking for.

The statement is the closest Pompeo has come to characterizing the North's short-range missile launches last month as a UN resolution violation, following mixed signals from U.S. President Donald Trump and his administration.

Trump last month downplayed the launches as “small weapons” and says he views them "differently" from his national security adviser, John Bolton, who called them short-range missiles that violate UN Security Council resolutions.

Bolton’s description has since been backed up by Acting U.S. Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan, as well as Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Last week, South Korea’s Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo described the projectiles as likely short-range missiles, but stopped short of speculating on whether or not they violated UN resolutions.

[Photo : YONHAP News]