US Warns Military Action on North Korea Unless Diplomacy Works

Tillerson warned Tuesday that if North Korea does not choose to negotiate on giving up its nuclear weapons that pose a growing threat to the United States it could trigger a military response, Wolrd News reported.

After a meeting of US allies on how to beef up the sanctions pressure, Tillerson stressed that the Donald Trump administration seeks a diplomatic resolution in the nuclear standoff, but he underscored that the North has yet to show itself to be a “credible negotiating partner”.

He underlined that US-North Korea talks would require a “sustained cessation” of threatening behavior.

“We all need to be very sober and clear-eyed about the current situation,” Tillerson said when he was asked whether Americans should be concerned about the possibility of a war.

Tillerson added that North Korea has been making significant advances in its nuclear weapons using the thermonuclear test and progress in its intercontinental missile systems.

"We have to recognize that the threat is growing and that if North Korea does not choose the pathway of engagement, discussion, negotiation then they themselves will trigger an option," he stated.

It comes as US President Donald Trump told his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in days ago that Washington is open to talks with North Korea, while remaining determined to apply "maximum pressure" over Pyongyang's nuclear program, according to the White House.

Trump had also announced that he is “absolutely” willing to talk on the phone to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un if North-South meeting yields positive results.

Kim in his New Year's Day speech called on his country to accelerate mass production of nuclear warheads and ballistic missiles, stressing that "The nuclear button is always on my desk. This is not blackmail but reality".

Kim declared his county a nuclear power in possession of technology capable of striking the US mainland should there be a need.

“The US mainland is in our nuclear strike zone,” Kim said, adding that “The United States will never start a war with me and our country,” and Pyongyang has “completed the creation of North Korea’s nuclear forces".

In 2018, Kim promised to focus his country’s efforts on the “operational deployment” of nuclear warheads and ballistic missiles.

North Korea accused the United States of attempting to disrupt its dialogue with South Korea, the Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of North Korea's ruling party, wrote on Monday.

The paper said Washington is "preparing to deploy its strategic military assets around the Korean Peninsula".

"The US is repeating its pledge not to ease sanctions and pressure until the North abandons nuclear and ballistic missile programs. It is throwing cold water on an atmosphere of reconciliation," the newspaper wrote.

The newspaper warned that North Korea has various options that can be used against Washington at an appropriate time.

Trump and Kim have also exchanged a series of personal insults, with Trump calling Kim a "little rocket man" and "mad man" and Pyongyang calling the US president a "mentally deranged dotard" and "old lunatic".

Tensions have been building on the peninsula following a series of nuclear and missile tests by Pyongyang as well as threats of war and personal insults traded between the US President and the North Korean leader.

US decades-long military presence in and around the Korean Peninsula has forced Pyongyang to develop its ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons as a deterrent against Washington's aggression. The United States has thousands of troops in the region, partially in South Korea and Japan, and routinely threatens the North with military action to stop its weapons program.

Pyongyang has firmly defended its military program as a deterrent against the hostile policies of the US and its regional allies, including South Korea and Japan. North Korean officials have time and again accused their American counterparts of seeking regime change in their country.