Rex Tillerson: North Korea needs fresh approach

But it’s the first trip by the new Trump administration’s senior diplomat. “We look to China to fulfill its obligations and fully implement the sanctions called for”, he told reporters.

But the Secretary added Washington will put a priority on cooperation with Japan and South Korea, so that those three nations may counter more effectively the threats from North Korea.

Mr Tillerson is likely to urge China to do even more. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, center, meets with U.S. and South Korea soldiers before the lunch meeting at the Camp Bonifas near the border village of Panmunjom, which has separated the two Koreas since the Korean.

She had been a long-time supporter of U.S. foreign policy in the region, particularly when it came to isolating North Korea.

Its radar, with a range of more than 2,000 km (1,250 miles), meant it could cover a large part of China, far outside the scope of the threat South Korea faces, Hua said.

Tillerson’s South Korea itinerary includes one more notable stop: at around 4 pm on March 17, he is scheduled to meet with acting president and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn at the Central Government Complex in Seoul, after which he is to hold a joint press conference with Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se.

“We welcome all parties, including the USA, to come up with their own proposals“, Hua told a daily news briefing.

“We also believe it is not the way for a regional power to help resolve what is a serious threat for everyone. China will have an open attitude”. The U.S. said it wasn’t ready to engage with North Korea until it stops its “bad behavior”, reflecting the Obama administration’s policy to refuse to enter talks unless Kim’s regime agreed to drop its nuclear ambitions.

Tillerson had not previously answered questions from reporters during his six weeks in office, and his comments in Japan were eagerly watched by global observers for indications as to what they meant for the Trump administration’s foreign policy.

He directed the government of China, North Korea’s closest and most formidable ally, to pressure North Korea into adhering to worldwide legal standards.

But since his victory he has twice met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and has been careful to offer complete support, as Tillerson reiterated.

Tillerson urged China and other countries to fully implement United Nations sanctions on North Korea.

“We do believe they have a very important role to play”, Tillerson said of Beijing.

Trump’s Middle East envoy pursues quiet diplomacy and avoids controversy while shuttling between Jerusalem, Ramallah and the Jordanian capital, Amman, on his first official visit to the region. Tillerson described the weapons programs as “dangerous and unlawful”.

In addition to its two nuclear tests previous year, the Korea has carried out numerous missile launches and says it’s working on a nuclear-tipped missile that can reach America.

It is not yet clear, however whether Trump and Tillerson have significant policy differences or if he can defend his department against some of Trump’s closest aides such as Steve Bannon who want to dismantle parts of the federal government and limit US engagement with the world, said three of the current and former officials.

The US and South Korea have rejected this proposal out of hand, although it seems that such tough talk is easier for Washington than for Seoul.

The region is in diplomatic meltdown as China is furious with the installation of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, created to defend against North Korean missiles.

Pak Myong Ho, a North Korean embassy official speaking in Beijing on Thursday, said the deployment “will destroy the balance in Northeast Asia and the Pacific region”. “What just happened is shocking – and counterproductive for United States diplomacy”, Glenn Kessler, the fact checker columnist for The Washington Post, tweeted in response.

“We’re going to have to send China a clear signal that first, the island-building stops and second, your access to those islands also is not going to be allowed”, Mr Tillerson told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in January, likening it to Russia’s annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.