President Donald Trump says he doesn't know if North Korea's despotic leader Kim Jong Un is in his right mind, but he is clearly "a smart cookie" and a force to be reckoned with.
Asked on CBS's Face the Nation programme to evaluate the communist strongman, the president hedged.
"'People are saying, 'Is he sane?' I have no idea," he said.
"I can tell you this, and a lot of people don't like when I say it, but he was a young man of 26 or 27 when he took over from his father, when his father died. He's dealing with obviously very tough people, in particular the generals and others.
"And at a very young age, he was able to assume power," Trump continued. "A lot of people, I'm sure, tried to take that power away, whether it was his uncle or anybody else.
"And he was able to do it. So obviously, he's a pretty smart cookie.
"I don't know. I mean, we'll see," he said.
Trump is famously guarded about his strategic military thinking, but suggested that his administration will be the one to de-fang Kim, the Daily Mail reported.
"We cannot let what's been going on for a long period of years continue," he said.
"And frankly, this should've been done and taken care of by the Obama administration. Should've been taken care of by the Bush administration. Should've been taken care of by Clinton."
Is he sane? Trump said communist dictator Kim Jong Un is a 'smart cookie' but wouldn't rule out any military options against him. Photo / Getty
On CNN's State of the Union,' Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona said the option of a pre-emptive military strike against North Korea must remain open as a last resort.
"I think that we have to consider that option as the very last option, and for a number of reasons. And one of the reasons is because there's artillery on the DMZ [Demilitarised Zone] that can strike Seoul, a city of 26 million people, and the carnage would be horrendous.
"To say you absolutely rule out that option of course would be foolish. But it has to be the ultimate last option," McCain added.
North Korea test-launched a missile just hours before Trump was interviewed by CBS News anchor John Dickerson, but the effort failed spectacularly.
Soldiers hold their weapons as they ride on a tank during the parade at Kim Il Sung square. Photo / Getty
As with earlier attempts, speculation ran rampant that the US had cyber-hacked North Korea's military computer systems and sabotaged the test.
He refused to weigh in on the possibility in his CBS interview.
"I'd rather not discuss it. But perhaps they're just not very good missiles," he jabbed. "But eventually, he'll have good missiles.
"It is a chess game," Trump said. "I just don't want people to know what my thinking is. So eventually, he will have a better delivery system. And if that happens, we can't allow it to happen."
Trump was asked if his subtle and not-so-subtle threats against Pyongyang are working. "Well, I didn't say, 'Don't test a missile'," the president said.
"[Kim] is going to have to do what he has to do. But he understands we're not going to be very happy. And I will tell you, a man that I've gotten to like and respect - the president of China, President Xi - I believe has been putting pressure on him also.
"But so far, perhaps nothing's happened and perhaps it has. This was a small missile. This was not a big missile. This was not a nuclear test, which he was expected to do three days ago. We'll see what happens."
When asked if the United States would take military action against North Korea in the event of another nuclear test, Trump said: "I don't know. I mean, we'll see". Photo / Getty
When Trump was asked what he meant by "not happy," he reiterated: "I would not be happy."
"If he does a nuclear test, I will not be happy. And I can tell you also, I don't believe that the president of China, who is a very respected man, will be happy either."
A US official said the ballistic missile, thought to be a mid-range KN-17, was fired from a location in the South Pyeongan province in the early hours of Saturday morning local time.
It blew up over land before it ever reached its target of the Sea of Japan, landing around 22 miles from Pukchang airfield, South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
It flew for several minutes and reached a maximum height of 71 kilometres before it apparently failed.
The launch comes just hours after the country announced it was "on the brink of nuclear war" as the United States stages military drills with South Korea.
