United States of America’s Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was reported to reject talks with North Korea regarding missile and nuclear programs. It was then said that he wants to deter all threats from Pyongyang before it affects the U.S.
According to The Guardian, in Tillerson’s press conference with South Korea’s foreign minister, Yun Byung-se, he said that he certainly doesn’t want any military conflict. "If they elevate the threat of their weapons program to a level that we believe requires action then that option is on the table,” he then warned.
In addition to that, Tillerson strongly stressed that the “strategic patience” towards North Korea had already ended. The U.S. is already exploring different security and diplomatic measures as of now as Tillerson said in a statement.
Furthermore, NY Daily News reported that Tillerson also responded regarding North Korea taking threats and actions against South Korea and the U.S forces. He said that if ever that comes an appropriate response from them would be received by North Korea and that “all of the options are on the table.”
Yet, Tillerson noted that before anything like that takes event, the U.S. still hopes that North Korea would be persuaded to take another path. U.S. President Donald Trump was then said to seek all options to halt North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs before it would be capable of reaching the country’s mainland.
Moreover, South Korea’s foreign minister Yun then said that they have various policy methods available for North Korea per Washington Post. He then identified that they plan to get all nations together to make North Korea change its strategy for it had been causing too much pain. Hahm Chai-bong, the president of the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Seoul then agrees that military threats were among the few options for dealing with the North.
Hahm then added that “The U.S. and South Korea have never put this much pressure on North Korea or responded in such a direct way before.” He mentioned that it would be a case for which country would blink first. Afterward, he stated that since they are the ones who have too much to lose, they are always the one to blink first.
