Rex Tillerson has sought to ease tensions over North Korea by declaring that the US is not pushing for regime change and does not blame China for the situation.
The secretary of state said the US hoped to have dialogue with Kim Jong-un’s regime “at some point”, although he repeated the long-standing precondition for talks that Pyongyang disavow nuclear weapons.
“We do not seek a regime change; we do not seek the collapse of the regime; we do not seek an accelerated reunification of the peninsula; we do not seek an excuse to send our military north of the 38th parallel,” Mr Tillerson said at a press briefing last night.
“And we’re trying to convey to the North Koreans we are not your enemy, we are not your threat, but you are presenting an unacceptable threat to us, and we have to respond.”
While President Trump criticised China for doing “nothing” to reign in its ally after the latest intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test last week, his secretary of state took a more nuanced line.
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Even as he repeated the call for Beijing to use its special influence on Pyongyang, Mr Tillerson said: “We’ve been very clear with the Chinese [that] we certainly don’t blame the Chinese for the situation in North Korea. Only the North Koreans are to blame for this situation.”
Earlier this week, China pushed back against the US president’s criticism. Liu Jieyi, Beijing’s ambassador to the United Nations, argued that North Korea and the US had to take the main responsibility for easing tensions.
North Korea often rails against joint military exercises between the US and South Korea, arguing they are rehearsals for invasion. President Moon of South Korea has sought greater engagement with the North including inter-military talks to ease tensions, but Pyongyang demanded that Seoul first drop sanctions.
Lee Nak-yon, the South Korean prime minister, conceded this week that “the North is closing the opportunities for us to realise President Moon’s peace initiative”.
Mr Kim hailed the test of the Hwasong-14 missile on Friday — the second in a month — as a warning that his weapons could reach “the entire US territory”.
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Western experts have said the lofted flight path indicated that major US cities such as Los Angeles, Denver and Chicago appeared to be within range, although the distance would be reduced with a heavier payload.
There are doubts that the regime has mastered the technology needed to shield a nuclear warhead from the rigours of re-entry into the atmosphere at ICBM speeds. Still, North Korea makes progress with each test.
American, Japanese and South Korean defence officials agreed during a teleconference this morning that they should apply “maximum pressure” on the regime to halt its provocations and resume denuclearisation talks.
Mr Tillerson said those efforts would continue because other options, “obviously, are not particularly attractive”.
Yesterday Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator, claimed that Mr Trump had told him the US would go to war with North Korea “if they continue to try to hit America with an ICBM”.
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In response, the White House repeated its line that all options remained on the table.