National security adviser John Bolton said of North Korea: “We’re going to try and proceed to implement what the two leaders agreed to in Singapore.” | Susan Walsh/AP Photo Bolton downplays North Korea weapons report

White House national security adviser John Bolton on Sunday downplayed reports suggesting that North Korea is trying to conceal parts of its nuclear weapons program.

“We’re going to try and proceed to implement what the two leaders agreed to in Singapore,” Bolton said on “Face the Nation” on CBS, referring to President Donald Trump’s meeting last month with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying responding to specific reports does not serve the purpose of advancing the negotiations.


Bolton said the Trump administration is not naive.

“We're very well aware of North Korea's patterns of behavior over decades of negotiating with the United States,” adding: “There's not any starry-eyed feeling among the group doing this.”

Bolton’s comments follows reports from NBC News and The Washington Post, based on comments from anonymous U.S. officials who say North Korea is continuing to manufacture fuel for nuclear weapons. Intelligence sources told NBC that North Korea may be increasing production to position itself for greater concessions from the Trump administration. While North Korea has stopped missile tests, one U.S. official told NBC, there’s no evidence the regime has decreased its stockpiles or slowed production.

“Kim Jong Un was very emphatic several times in Singapore he was different from prior regimes,” Bolton told moderator Margaret Brennan on Sunday. “Now we'll let their actions speak for themselves.”