North Korea Will Be 'The Walmart Or The Amazon Of Deliverable Nuclear Weapons' If Left Unchecked, Says John Bolton

In his first public remarks since being fired by President Donald Trump, former National Security Advisor John Bolton on Monday criticized Trump's North Korea policy, warning that Pyongyang is expanding its nuclear arsenal and could even sell its nuclear bombs to other countries.

"Every day that goes by makes North Korea a more dangerous country," Bolton said at a conference sponsored by the Center For Strategic And International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C. "You don't like their behavior today? What do you think it'll be like when they have nuclear weapons that can be delivered to other American cities? You want to wait until then to act?"

Bolton has criticized Trump's hopeful attitude toward North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, believing that there can be a reduction of sanctions in exchange for North Korea scaling back its nuclear arsenal.

"I think the strategic decision that Kim Jong Un is operating through is that he will do whatever he can to keep a deliverable weapons capability, and to develop and enhance it further," Bolton said.

A report by the Wall Street Journal in July suggested that while Trump and Kim have pursued diplomatic negotiations, North Korea could produce six to seven nuclear bombs a year to add to its estimated arsenal of between 20 to 60 bombs.

Bolton has suggested that North Korea could sell its nuclear bombs to other countries, "becoming the Walmart or the Amazon of deliverable nuclear weapons."

He said that current U.S. sanctions are not effective enough and that the reason North Korea is not testing nuclear and long-range-missile testing is because it is no longer necessary. He suggested U.S. military force as an option against Pyongyang.

Bolton concluded: "These are questions that need to focus our attention, not can we get another summit with Kim Jong Un."

Trump has met with North Korea's Kim several times in the past few years to discuss North Korean denuclearization, with the two leaders even meeting at the North Korean side of the demilitarized zone of the Korean Penninsula in June. Trump and Kim have had an unusually warm relationship, with the two sending friendly letters towards one another.

Previously, Trump had called Kim "rocket man" while in front of the United Nations in Sept. 2017, with Kim calling Trump "mentally deranged."

North Korea left the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in 2003, which had barred the country from developing nuclear weapons. Pyongyang has been concerned over the years that the U.S., South Korea or other nations would invade North Korea, leading the country to develop nuclear bombs for the alleged purpose of self-defense.