Secretary of State Rex Tillerson tells U. N. that failure of world to curb North Korea would be a catastrophe
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Friday urged the United Nations Security Council to impose new economic sanctions on North Korea, warning of a “catastrophic” outcome if the world fails to block Pyongyang’s rush to develop a nuclear warhead that it can put atop a long-range missile.
In his debut speech at the U. N., Tillerson also urged Security Council members to further isolate Kim Jong Un’s government by suspending or downgrading diplomatic relations with Pyongyang, and threatened to slap penalties on third-party countries that don’ t comply with existing sanctions.
Hours after Tillerson spoke, North Korea’s military launched a ballistic missile from north of Pyongyang that apparently crashed nearby or in waters just offshore. U. S. Pacific Command spokesman Cmdr. David Benham said in a statement that the missile “did not leave North Korean territory.”
The White House said President Trump was briefed on the launch. It’s not known if the missile was meant as a rebuke to the White House, or was just the latest of at least seven short and mid-range missile tests Pyongyang has conducted this year, several of which have failed.
Either way, it served to keep nerves on edge in Washington and other capitals over North Korea’s growing nuclear capabilities, a threat that the White House considers its most immediate international concern.
“Failing to act now on the most pressing security issue in the world may bring catastrophic consequences, ” Tillerson told the Security Council. “Additional patience will only mean acceptance of a nuclear North Korea.”
He said the threat of a North Korean nuclear attack on Seoul or Tokyo is real and that it is “likely only a matter of time” before Pyongyang gains the ability to launch a nuclear-armed missile at the U. S. mainland, probably California.
Tillerson’s address to foreign ministers from the 14 other nations in the Security Council was part of a White House campaign to ratchet up pressure on Pyongyang before it can conduct its sixth underground nuclear test or test-launch its first intercontinental ballistic missile.
He spoke a day after President Trump warned that a “major, major conflict” with North Korea was possible, although he said he was seeking a diplomatic solution.
