"These were short range missiles and those are a violation of the UNSCR," Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan told reporters traveling with him in Asia. | Patrick Semansky/AP Photo Defense Shanahan splits with Trump over North Korean missile tests

Acting Defense Secretary Pat Shanahan called North Korea's recent tests of short-range ballistic missiles a violation of a United Nations Security Council resolution, publicly diverging from President Donald Trump and siding with National Security Adviser John Bolton.

"The short-range missile, is that a violation? Yes," Shanahan told reporters traveling with him in Asia, referring to the early May launches by North Korea. "These were short range missiles and those are a violation of the UNSCR."


The U.N. resolution bars North Korea from testing any ballistic missiles, regardless of range, as Bolton pointed out to reporters on Saturday.

But Trump took a different line over the weekend during his visit to Japan. "North Korea fired off some small weapons, which disturbed some of my people, and others, but not me," he tweeted the same day as Bolton's comments.

"There have been no ballistic missiles going out," Trump told reporters in Tokyo before backtracking to say "there have been no long-range missiles going out."

