The U. S. Secretary of State describes threat of North Korea’s nuclear capabilities as ‘imminent.’
U. S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in an interview published Saturday that the situation in North Korea has reached “a very alarming state.”
Speaking to the Independent Journal Review, he said, “We will be talking about a broad range of issues when I’m in Beijing. But the threat of North Korea is imminent. And it has reached a level that we are very concerned about the consequences of North Korea being allowed to continue on this progress it’s been making on the development of both weapons and delivery system.”
Tillerson arrived in Beijing on Saturday from Seoul, where he had outlined a more hard line approach against Pyongyang as North Korea edges closer to having the capability of mounting a nuclear warhead on a long-range ballistic missile. He met with South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se on Friday and said he would raise these same issues with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Sanctions, which have already been imposed by the United Nations Security Council resolutions, are one option to address North Korea, Tillerson said, “and to ask that everyone fully implement those sanctions.
