Top US officer: Little progress reining in N. Korea
Military says steps to restrain Pyongyang haven’t met expectations
TOKYO/SEOUL (Reuters) – Diplomatic and economic measures taken to rein in North Korea’s missile program have not had the desired effect, a senior US military commander said on Thursday after the North’s latest test triggered a flurry of calls among world leaders.
US President Donald Trump led calls with leaders and senior officials from Japan and South Korea on Thursday to discuss the latest provocation from Pyongyang, hours before Trump begins a much-anticipated summit with Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.
“Up to this point I think it is fair to say... that economic and diplomatic efforts have not supported the progress people have been anticipating and looking forward to,” US Pacific Fleet Commander Adm. Scott Swift said in Tokyo, where he was meeting Japanese Self-Defense Force commanders and Foreign Ministry officials.
North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs were high on the agenda when Trump and Xi met at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida on Thursday.
Analysts have said Wednesday’s launch of a ballistic missile from North Korea’s east coast probably took place with the Trump-Xi summit in mind as the reclusive state presses ahead in defiance of United Nations resolutions and sanctions.
During a phone call with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday, Trump again said that all options are on the table when it comes to North Korea’s continued missile tests.
Swift said a military response remains among those options.
“That decision would be up to the president,” he told reporters. “The military was always an option.”
Abe said the two leaders had agreed that North Korea’s latest ballistic missile launch was “a dangerous provocation and a serious threat.”
The White House said in a statement after the Abe call that Trump “made clear that the United States would continue to strengthen its ability to deter and defend itself and its allies with the full range of its military capabilities.”
Trump has repeatedly said he wants China to do more to exert its economic influence over its unpredictable ally in Pyongyang to restrain its nuclear and missile programs, but China denies it has any overriding influence on North Korea.
Any launch of objects using ballistic missile technology is a violation of UN Security Council resolutions. The North has defied the ban, saying it infringes on its sovereign rights to self-defense and the pursuit of space exploration.
In another call on Thursday, Trump’s national security adviser H.R. McMaster told his South Korean counterpart that Washington remains committed to the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system in South Korea.
South Korea and the United States say the sole purpose of the THAAD system is to defend against missile launches from North Korea, but China says the system’s powerful radar could penetrate into its territory.
The United States began deploying the first elements of the THAAD system in South Korea last month, despite angry opposition from China.
“Both sides agreed to pursue... plans in order to substantially strengthen the international community’s sanctions and pressure on North Korea,” South Korea’s presidential Blue House said in a statement.
“...both agreed to push forward the deployment of THAAD by US forces in Korea,” it added.