Trump’s strikes in Syria message to N Korea, other adversary nations: Tillerson

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrives a press conference after he greeted Chinese President Xi Jinping at Palm Beach International Airport on April 6, 2017 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by AFP)

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says the country’s recent airstrikes against a Syrian airbase should be considered as a message to North Korea.

"The message that any nation can take is, 'If you violate international norms, if you violate international agreements, if you fail to live up to commitments, if you become a threat to others, at some point a response is likely to be undertaken," he said on ABC's “This Week” on Sunday.

US military warships, stationed in the eastern Mediterranean, fired dozens of Tomahawk cruise missiles at Shayrat air base near the Syrian city of Homs on Friday, following allegations that the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had used chemical weapons on a town in the Idlib province earlier.

As many were speaking up against the US aggression, the secretary of state appeared on US media to defend Trump’s order for the attack and use it as a means to threaten North Korea.

“In terms of North Korea, we've been very clear that our objective is a denuclearized Korea peninsula," he said.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and first lady Peng Liyuan arrive at Palm Beach International Airport April 6, 2017 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by AFP)

Earlier, the US sent a Navy strike group toward the Korean Peninsula following a meeting between US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping.

During an appearance on CBS' “Face the Nation,” the secretary of state suggested that Beijing had thrown its support behind the move.

“President Xi clearly understands, and I think agrees, that the situation has intensified and has reached a certain level of threat that action has to be taken," Tillerson said.

Last week, North Korea fired a ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan.

In February, it also simultaneously launched four ballistic missiles off its east coast, three of which landed close to Japan.


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