President Trump on Wednesday claimed the U.S. had been paying “extortion money” to North Korea.
“The U.S. has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years,” Trump tweeted.
“Talking is not the answer!”
Trump’s comments come after the Pentagon confirmed Monday that North Korea had fired a missile that flew through Japan’s airspace.
{mosads}The missile launch over Japan was a signal to the Trump administration that North Korea is not backing away from its antagonistic behavior.
Trump’s tweet comes after an announcement by the U.S. Missile Defense Agency that it had successfully shot down a medium-range ballistic missile in a test off the coast of Hawaii Wednesday.
Trump earlier this month intensified his rhetoric against North Korea, warning that continued threats would be met by “fire and fury.”
In response, North Korea threatened to launch a missile into waters near the U.S. territory of Guam.
North Korean state media on Tuesday called its recent missile launch over Japan a “prelude” to military operations directed at Guam.