Mattis: Still time for diplomacy
Washington will not give up on diplomatic efforts to resolve the North Korea nuclear crisis, United States Secretary of Defence James Mattis said.
“I am not willing to say that diplomacy has not worked,” Mattis said at the Pentagon.
“We will continue to work diplomatically, we will continue to work through the United Nations, the United Nations Security Council and we will be unrelenting in that.
“At the same time, our diplomats will speak from a position of strength because we do have military options,” he said.
US President Donald Trump has telephoned South Korean President Moon Jae In to discuss “next steps” and how to bring “maximum pressure to bear on the [ North Korean] regime”.
Trump also vowed that the US would send a “high- level delegation” to the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang in February despite North Korea’s actions.
Earlier he had noted on Twitter that a Chinese envoy who had met with North Korea after the launch “seems to have had no impact on Little Rocket Man”.
“Hard to believe his people, and the military, put up with living in such horrible conditions. Russia and China condemned the launch,” Trump said.
Hours after the launch on Wednesday, the US Government called on China to cut off oil deliveries to North Korea, and on all countries to cut diplomatic ties with Pyongyang.
During talks in Washington yesterday, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said it had recalled one of its diplomats to North Korea, but stopped short of withdrawing its ambassador.
“The diplomatic pressure is being increased, others in Europe are doing the same,” said Gabriel, who held talks with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
Germany’s ambassador to North Korea, Thomas Schaefer, is one of the most experienced Western diplomats in the country, having served in the embassy from 2007- 2010 and later returning to Pyongyang in 2013.