20 nations mull more sanctions on N Korea, US warns of military option

VANCOUVER: Twenty nations agreed on Tuesday to consider tougher sanctions to press North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons and US secretary of state Rex Tillerson warned Pyongyang it could trigger a military response if it did not choose negotiations.

A US-hosted meeting of countries that backed South Korea during the 1950-53 Korea War also vowed to support dialogue between the two Koreas “in hopes that it leads to sustained easing of tensions” and agreed that a diplomatic solution to the crisis was both essential and possible.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has refused to give up development of nuclear missiles capable of hitting the US in spite of increasingly severe UN sanctions, raising fears of a new war on the Korean peninsula.

The United States and Canada co-hosted the day-long meeting in Vancouver to discuss ways to increase pressure on Kim.

US officials have reported a debate within the Trump administration over whether to give more active consideration to military options, such as a pre-emptive strike on a North Korean nuclear or missile site.

Tillerson brushed off a question about such a “bloody nose” strike: “I’m a not going to comment on issues that have yet to be decided among the National Security Council or the president.”