Tillerson finds Asia debut dominated by North Korea’s missiles

Earlier, Tillerson visited the heavily fortified border with North Korea, the Demilitarised Zone, and met some of the 28,500 USA troops stationed in South Korea.

“North Korea has violated UN Security Council resolutions banning its ballistic missile launches; on the other hand, South Korea, the USA – and now Japan – insist on conducting super-large-scale military drills”, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, second from right, is greeted by U.S. officials upon his arrival at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, Friday, March 17, 2017.

The Foal Eagle exercise includes 3,600 U.S. troops, in addition to the 28,000 USA troops permanently stationed in South Korea.

The former Exxon Mobil CEO has adopted a low profile during his six weeks as secretary of state.

Stop No. 2 – South Korea: You’d think the only thing to talk about in Seoul these days would be naughty North Korea and its nefarious nuclear and ballistic missile programs. President Donald Trump appears at odds with Beijing particularly on trade.

The latest test has Hurd concerned that soon North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will have the ability to reach the USA mainland with a nuclear weapon.

Tillerson is making his first trip to Asia as the top USA diplomat.

Tillerson will deliver this message on his first official trip to Asia, a three-country tour that promises to be a tightrope walk of diplomatic tensions – and nowhere more so than in Beijing, North Korea’s closest ally and protector.

The liberal South Korean politician most likely to become the country’s next president would, if elected, review how the government would deploy an advanced USA missile defense system and would consult China, two of his top advisers said on Friday.

North Korea is expected to top the agenda at Tillerson’s talks in Tokyo.

“The longer the North Korean program evolves, the more this becomes a reality”, the Stratfor report states.

Taken overall, Tillerson’s trip is unlikely to see a decisive breakthrough in the North Korea stand-off.

Acting spokesman Mark Toner told reporters this week that efforts to convince China to pressure North Korea were the “looming challenge” in trans-Pacific relations.

It has urged North Korea to stop its nuclear and missile tests and said South Korea and the United States should stop joint military exercises and seek talks instead.

HU: THAAD is a missile defense system the U.S.is installing in South Korea against Chinese objections.

Recent launches have also been said to elude military intelligence, as the North has eschewed fixed launch sites in favour of mobile vehicles outfitted with off-road tracks. Military officials also say that the drills will be conducted under the assumption that that the THAAD missile defense system has already been installed on the Korean peninsula.

The Chinese say the powerful radar in the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system is a threat to Beijing’s security.

But he said that by taking other steps, including sanctions, the U.S.is hopeful that North Korea could be persuaded to take a different course before it reaches that point. Former Vice President Joseph Biden met with a group of Beijing-based reporters from the New York Times and Bloomberg News during a trip to China in December 2013.

Additionally, the THAAD deployment decision was made hastily and without rational procedure by a president, Park Geun-hye, who has now been impeached.

A US think tank, 38 North, recently raised the possibility of a sixth nuclear experiment by the North, citing satellite imagery near the Punggye-ri nuclear test site. The favorite to succeed her is Moon Jae-in, a moderate who wants to engage North Korea’s government. In the China leg of his visit, he may well have warmer words for Beijing, but significant downside risks remain in bilateral ties as Trump and Xi prepare for their first face-to-face meeting in coming weeks. China recently announced it was suspending for the rest of the year coal imports that are an important source of revenue for North Korea.

Li said China was a strong supporter of United Nations resolutions aimed at nudging the North toward ending its programs, and had “fully complied” with economic sanctions on Pyongyang.