Tillerson: Northern Korea diplomacy continues until the 1st “bomb bomb”

Washington – Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that diplomatic efforts to resolve the North Korean crisis “will continue until the first bomb is falling.”

This statement comes despite the tweets of President Donald Trump a few weeks ago that his chief envoy “wasted his time” trying to negotiate with “Little Rocket Man”, a mocking nickname of Trump gave the chief of the nuclear nation, Kim Jong one.

“I think he wants to be clear with Kim Jong one and this regime in North Korea that he has military preparations ready to leave and he has these military options on the table. And we have spent a substantial time perfecting people,” Tillerson in CNN “State of the Union” said on Sunday. “But be clear: the president also told me that he wanted this resolution diplomatically. He is not trying to go to war. “

Recent mixed messages from the US Government Summit have raised concerns about the processing potential in the midst of the increasingly bellicose word exchange by Trump and the North Korean chief.

Trump told the United Nations General Assembly last month that the United States was “forced to defend or defend himself or from its allies, we will have no choice but to completely destroy North Korea”. Trump also tweeted that Korea management “will not be there much longer” if it was continuing its provocations, a statement that led the Minister of Foreign Affairs in the North to say that Trump had “declared war on our country”.

Tillerson recognized during a recent trip to Beijing that the Trump administration kept direct communication channels open with North Korea and probe the will of the North to speak. He has provided no development on these channels or the substance of any discussion.

Shortly after, Trump went to Twitter, saying that he had said: “Our wonderful secretary of state, that he wasted at trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man … Save Your Energy Rex, we will do what must be done!” Trump offered no other explanation, but he said that all military options were on the table to treat nuclear and missile programs in North Korea.

Analysts hypothesized whether the president and his best diplomat played “Good Cop, Bad Cop” with North Korea, and how China could interpret Washington's confusing signals. Beijing is the main trading partner in the North, and the United States is counting on China to apply the United Nations sanctions.

“Rest assured that the Chinese are not confused in any way what American policy towards North Korea (East) or what our actions and efforts are directed,” said Tillerson.

Asked if Trump's tweets have undermined Tillerson, the secretary said: “I think what the president is doing is that he is trying to motivate the action of several people, in particular the regime in North Korea. I think he wants to be clear with Kim Jong one and this regime in North Korea that he has military preparations ready to go and he has these military options on the table and we spent a substantial time perfecting these. ” ».

He added that Trump “clearly told me to continue my diplomatic efforts, which we are, and I told others that these diplomatic efforts would continue until the first bomb drops.”

North Korea has launched missiles that can potentially hit the American continent and have recently carried out its largest underground nuclear explosion ever underground. He threatened to explode another nuclear bomb above the Pacific.