Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has acknowledged the failure of diplomatic efforts to reverse North Korea’s nuclear weapons program on the first leg of an Asia trip dedicated to developing a new plan for restraining the rogue regime. I think it’s important to recognize that the diplomatic…
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has acknowledged the failure of « diplomatic efforts » to reverse North Korea’s nuclear weapons program on the first leg of an Asia trip dedicated to developing a new plan for restraining the rogue regime.
« I think it’s important to recognize that the diplomatic and other efforts of the past 20 years to bring North Korea to a point of denuclearization have failed, » Tillerson told reporters in Tokyo.
That’s a rare statement to hear from a top diplomat, although it reflects a broad consensus on North Korea’s obstinance regarding the weapons program. Then-Director of National Intelligence James Clapper declared the denuclearization project « a lost cause » just last year. But Tillerson didn’t voice such resignation, as he headed into a series of meetings that seem likely to contemplate military action against the regime.
« So we have 20 years of failed approach, and that includes a period in which the United States provided $1.35 billion in assistance to North Korea as an encouragement to take a different pathway, » Tillerson said after a meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida. « That encouragement has been met with further development of nuclear capabilities, more missile launches, including those [on] February 11th and March the 5th. In the face of this ever-escalating threat, it is clear that a different approach is required. The purpose of — part of the purpose of my visit to the region is to exchange views on a new approach.
