TILLERSON: MILITARY ACTION AN OPTION AGAINST NORTH KOREA
Secretary of State indicates U. S. is prepared to confront nuclear threat
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warned Friday the military action “option is on the table” against North Korea, an indication President Trump is prepared to confront the North’s nuclear threat more aggressively.
Tillerson made the comments during a news conference in Seoul after visiting the buffer zone between rivals North and South Korea. He said the “policy of strategic patience has ended” and that the United States was considering military, diplomatic and economic measures aimed at persuading North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions.
Tillerson said the U. S. does not want to use military action, “but obviously if North Korea takes actions that threaten South Korean forces or our own forces, that would bemet with ( an) appropriate response. If they elevate the threat of their weapons program to a level that we believe requires action, that option is on the table.”
Trump on Friday slammed North Korea over nukes on Twitter. “North Korea is behaving very badly. They have been ‘ playing’ the United States for years. China has done little to help!”
Tillerson is on a tour this week of China, Japan and South Korea. He vowed Thursday to take a “different approach” to North Korea, saying 20 years of “diplomatic and other efforts” had failed to dissuade Pyongyang from developing its nuclear program. Previous U. S. administrations have held the threat of military action over North Korea in response to nuclear tests or missile launches, but Tillerson’s remarks go much further.
“North Korea must understand that the only path to a secure, economic propitious future is to abandon its development of nuclear weapons, ballistic missiles and other weapons of mass destruction,” Tillerson said.
North Korea conducted two nuclear test explosions and 24 ballistic missile tests last year.
Tillerson called on China, one of North Korea’s only allies, to refrain from economic retaliations against South Korea for deploying an advanced U. S. missile defense system — known as THAAD — because of threats from Pyongyang.
The State Department has described Tillerson’s trip to Asia as a “listening tour.” Tillerson will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping this weekend.