The US has said its policy of “strategic patience” with North Korea is over, and suggested it may decide to take pre-emptive military action. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said, the option was on the table if the threat from the North Korea’s weapons programme reached such a level.
During a visit to South Korea, he also said, the US was exploring a range of new diplomatic and economic measures. He also defended the deployment of a US missile system in South Korea. The move has angered China, but South Korea and the US say the system is needed to defend against North Korea. Mr Tillerson spoke shortly after visiting the demilitarised zone which divides the two Koreas. He arrived in South Korea from Japan, where he said that 20 years of efforts aimed at persuading North Korea to abandon its nuclear ambitions had failed.
The US has accused China, North Korea’s main ally, of not doing enough to rein it in. But Beijing remains wary of any action that could destabilise the North Korean regime and potentially create chaos on its border. During his address in Seoul, Mr Tillerson called on China to fully implement sanctions imposed by the UN in response to North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests.