Former U.N. ambassador John Bolton expressed disappointment Friday in the Obama administration's reaction to bellicose actions and rhetoric from North Korea, saying reports that Secretary of State John Kerry would employ diplomatic efforts to resolve the crisis were "music to North Korea's ears."
Rather, Bolton said on "Happening Now" on Fox News, North Korea needs to know its actions are "unacceptable."
"They see a weak, hesitating White House, and I think now they are content to raise the pressure, because they think it will help accomplish their objective," Bolton said. "And their objective is to get the United States and others to accept North Korea as a nuclear weapons state."
Bolton said the ultimate goal was to seek a peace treaty with the U.S. as a means of legitimizing their program and guaranteeing their status as a nuclear power.
"The actions that the United States takes doesn't provoke them to this behavior," he said. "Obviously they calibrate their own behavior and response. I believe without argument, when they see weakness on the part of the United States, they adhere to the notion that the more pressure they put, the more concessions they are going to get from us. And I'm afraid the administration seems to be slipping into that pattern of behavior."