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It is believed that Japan and the USA also exchanged views on the day over the United States possibly relisting North Korea as a state sponsoring terrorism.

“I don’t think THAAD is the reason (for) North Korea’s provocations, but they might use this opportunity to estrange South Korea, China, and the USA”, she said. It is among the options being considered in a full review of North Korea policy expected to be completed by late March or early April, the official said.

China has been reluctant to lean on its smaller neighbor, and fears the United States is trying to increase its influence on the Korean peninsula. Without China’s help, such business activities would be almost impossible.

Speaking side by side in Tokyo, Tillerson and Japan’s Kishida reiterated their countries would stand united against North Korea’s provocations.

He said 20 years of US diplomatic and other efforts to get North Korea to denuclearize have failed, but gave no specifics about how the Trump administration, which is now doing a policy review, would tackle the issue.

China has instead put the ball in the USA court, with the foreign minister suggesting a deal whereby North Korea agrees to stop testing missiles and the United States and South Korea stop joint military exercises.

Citing the continued North Korean missile launches this year, Tillerson said that “in the face of this ever-escalating threat it is clear that a different approach is required”.

Friday, Tillerson travels to South Korea, which is in political turmoil after its president was impeached last week over a corruption scandal. Washington did “not believe that conditions are right to engage in any talks at this time”. “That pathway can only be achieved by denuclearizing, giving up their weapons of mass destruction, and only then will we be prepared to engage with them in talks”, he said.

But in a conciliatory phone call in mid-February, Trump walked back controversial comments on Taiwan, creating an opening for Washington and Beijing to discuss a meeting.

Experts told CNN that while China has taken steps, like banning coal imports from North Korea, it’s also defended the North in ways that have watered-down United Nations sanctions. Well before going nuclear, North Korea has dogged every USA president since Harry Truman. A Military Armistice Commission briefing room straddles the border.

That election has raised questions over the future of the THAAD system, with some candidates calling for its deployment to be reviewed by the National Assembly.

“My expectation that the new government in South Korea will continue to be supportive of the THAAD system”.

“It may sound very naive, but we already witnessed that a hostile strategy against North Korea (pursued by Park’s government) and the United States government is not effective at all”, she said.

Washington initially took a tougher tack under Clinton’s successor, George W. Bush, but later pivoted to dialogue, including removing North Korea from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.

North Korea has a long-standing ambition to become a nuclear power and conducted its first underground atomic test in 2006, in the teeth of global opposition. China sees the system as a threat to its own security although the USA says it is only targeted against North Korea. Kishida said this is a matter of legal interpretation, and thus “something to be decided by the US government”, but added that he and Tillerson will “keep in close contact” on the matter.