Pence warns Korea not to test Trump
US Vice-President Mike Pence warned North Korea on Monday not to test Donald Trump’s resolve, declaring that “all options are on the table” in curbing its missile and nuclear weapons programmes.
Defying international pressure, the North on Sunday testfired another missile as fears grow that the nation may be preparing for its sixth nuclear weapons test.
“We hope to achieve this objective [denuclearising the North] through peaceful means, but all options are on the table,” Pence told a media conference in the South Korean capital after a trip to the tense border with North Korea.
“Just in the past two weeks, the world witnessed the strength and resolve of our new president in actions taken in Syria and Afghanistan,” he said.
“North Korea would do well not to test his resolve, or the strength of the armed forces of the US in this region.”
Tensions between North Korea and the US have soared in recent weeks, as a series of North Korean missile tests have prompted ever-more bellicose warnings from the administration of Trump.
The new and inexperienced US president has indicated he will not allow North Korea to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the western US.
Pence declared that the era of US “strategic patience” in dealing with the North was over, after more than two decades.
North Korea “answered our overtures with wilful deception, broken promises and nuclear and missile tests”, he said.
The US, which stations 28,500 troops in South Korea, would “defeat any attack and we will meet any use of conventional or nuclear weapons with an overwhelming and effective response”, Pence said.
Pence’s trip earlier on Monday to the Demilitarised Zone between the two Koreas — one of the most heavily fortified frontiers on the planet — underscored Washington’s changing policy towards the isolated state. The visit came after a huge military parade on Saturday during which North Korea showcased apparent intercontinental ballistic missiles, and as a US carrier group converged on the Korean peninsula.
It also came the day after North Korea’s latest launch — which failed when the missile blew up seconds after blast-off.
Pence said the US’s relationship with South Korea was “ironclad and immutable”.
Pyongyang insists it needs a powerful arsenal — including nuclear weapons — to protect itself from what it says is the ever-present threat of invasion by hostile US forces.
A top White House foreign policy adviser on Sunday became the latest Trump official to warn that while diplomatic pressure was preferable, US military action is very much on the table. Pence urged the international community to join in demanding an end to North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programmes.
“It is heartening to see China commit to these actions. But the US is troubled by China’s economic retaliation against South Korea for taking appropriate steps to defend itself,” he said, referring to the US THAAD missile defence system.
The system being installed in South Korea is designed to shoot down missiles from North Korea or elsewhere. But China furiously objects to its deployment, saying it could spy on its own defence installations, and has taken apparent retaliatory action against South Korean firms operating in the country.
This is the vice-president’s first visit to South Korea — part of an Asia swing that also includes stops in Japan.
Meanwhile, ousted South Korean president Park GeunHye was on Monday charged with bribery involving millions of dollars over the corruption and influence-peddling scandal that brought her down. Park, whose impeachment was confirmed by Seoul’s top court last month, is at the centre of a sprawling graft investigation, which has also implicated top businessmen and brought millions of people onto the streets.
The former leader also faces charges of abusing her powers and leaking state secrets, Seoul prosecutors probing the scandal said in a statement.
PYONGYANG INSISTS IT NEEDS AN ARSENAL TO PROTECT ITSELF FROM WHAT IT SAYS IS THE THREAT OF A US INVASION