Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Thursday that the US and China are seeing “certain signs” that international sanctions imposed against North Korea are beginning to impact the country’s economy.
The comments mark the first time the US has indicated that the latest round of UN sanctions are beginning to affect North Korea’s economy.
China signed onto a US-drafted UN Security Council resolution in September that imposed fresh sanctions against the North Korean regime, but Trump’s visit in Beijing this week was intended to press China to increase its pressure on Pyongyang.
Tillerson emerged from the day of meetings with Chinese officials to state that “there is no disagreement on North Korea,” though he conceded that there is some divergence on how to deal with the issue.
“There is no space between both of our objectives,” Tillerson said, adding the views on how to accomplish their shared goal is ‘what we spend a lot of time on.
