Tillerson arrives in China

Rebecca Barbier

Março 19, 2017

At Friday's joint conference with Yun, Tillerson said that diplomatic and other efforts to stop North Korea's nuclear weapons program over the last 20 years had failed, and that the Trump administration will now take a stronger approach, the Guardian reported.

Yonhap news agency reported Thursday that the X-band radar, a core element of the USA missile defense system, will arrive the ROK in the near future.

The sea change in U.S. policy follows two North Korean nuclear tests a year ago and missile launches including a salvo earlier this month that Pyongyang described as a drill for an attack on USA bases in Japan.

The Korean Central News Agency, the state media outlet for North Korea, also hit out at military drills and said the manoeuvres "only precipitate the US' final ruin".

"The threat of North Korea is imminent".

Advances have alarmed South Korea, sparking the deployment of the US's Terminal High Altitude Area Defence System (Thaad).

Washington insists THAAD is a defensive system deployed to protect the South and US bases, but China fears its advanced radar system undermines China's nuclear deterrent.

Mr Tillerson described North Korea's weapons programmes as "dangerous and unlawful".

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"We will be having discussions with China as to other actions that they should be undertaking". "So we hope China will alter its position on punishing South Korea". They carried banners that read, "No THAAD but peace".

Earlier this month, North Korea had launched several missiles which fell into Japanese waters, drawing sharp criticism from Japan, South Korea and the US.

The United States is against a conflict with North Korea, however, it is not ruling out new broader UN sanctions against the country because of its missile and nuclear programs, US State Secretary Rex Tillerson said Saturday.

Inside Story - Are sanctions against North Korea working? President Park Geun-hye was ousted last week after being impeached in a corruption scandal and an election to choose a new president will be held on May 9.

But the centre-right JoongAng Ilbo daily said Tillerson might have found it unnecessary to dine with officials from the outgoing government of impeached ex-President Park Geun-Hye ahead of fresh elections in May.

The US secretary of state's visit on Saturday followed his remarks the previous day in South Korea where he cautioned that pre-emptive military action against North Korea might be necessary.

North Korea is casting a long shadow over this trip, both for its potential nuclear threat and the recent flurry of missiles it tested, in a launch that sent weapons hundreds of miles toward Japan before landing in the Sea of Japan.

Wang restated Beijing's calls for dialogue between the USA and North Korea and called Tillerson's visit an important step toward a meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his US counterpart, President Trump, expected next month.