Tillerson avoids contact with North Korean foreign minister
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho have tried their best to avoid each other at an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) summit in Manila, the Philippines.
Tillerson and Ri took pains to avoid direct contact at the ASEAN conference on Sunday, only one day after the United Nations Security Council unanimously voted in favor of a US-drafted resolution significantly bolstering its anti-North Korea sanctions.
The fresh sanctions, which were adopted on Saturday, include an export ban on the North that could cut the country’s $3 billion annual export revenue by a third.
Tillerson even did not attend a dinner for foreign ministers because the North Korean foreign minister was also there.
North Korea is under mounting international pressure over its missile and nuclear development programs, but it says it needs to continue and develop its missile force as a deterrent to defend the nation in the face of a possible military invasion by the US and its regional allies.
US National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster said on Saturday the United States is preparing for all options, including a “preemptive war,” to stop North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs.
Asked by MSNBC’s Hugh Hewitt in an interview whether the US was planning to take military action against Pyongyang, McMaster said all options were under discussion.
“What you’re asking is, are we preparing plans for a preventive war, right?” he said in response. “A war that would prevent North Korea from threatening the United States with a nuclear weapon?”
McMaster said President Donald Trump has been very clear that the US will not tolerate “North Korea being able to threaten the United States.”
The comments came following two tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) by Pyongyang last month. North Korea claimed that its latest missile, test-fired on July 4, can deliver a "large, heavy nuclear warhead" to the US continent.
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