Trump says North Korea is 'behaving very badly' – after secretary of state draws new red line threatening pre-emptive strike if Kim's regime doesn't end its nuclear weapons program

  • President slams Pyongyang for continuing its nuclear weapons program 
  • Rex Tillerson outlined tougher confrontation of nuke threat from Kim Jong-un
  • 'The diplomatic and other efforts of the past 20 years to bring North Korea to a point of de-nuclearization have failed,' the secretary of state said 
  • He told a news conference in Seoul that 'all of the options are on the table'
  • Later said to Fox News that he won't rule out arming America's East Asian allies with their own nukes to keep Kim in check
  • North Korea has accelerated its weapons development, violating multiple UN Security Council resolutions and appearing undeterred by sanctions
  • Tillerson cut short his official duties during a stop in Tokyo, opting not to have meals with Japanese Foreign Minister Kishida and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
  • A Korean news outlet cited Tillerson's 'fatigue' as the reason

President Donald Trump blasted the North Korean regime on Friday, supporting his secretary of state for drawing a new red line and hinting at a pre-emptive military strike against Pyongyang's nuclear threat.

'North Korea is behaving very badly. They have been "playing" the United States for years. China has done little to help!' Trump wrote on Twitter

The message came while his secretary of state Rex Tillerson was still in the Far East. Tillerson bluntly warned North Korea's dictator hours earlier that he faces pre-emptive military action if he continues developing nuclear missiles.

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President Donald Trump blasted North Korea's efforts to develop nuclear missiles on Friday, saying Pyongyang has been 'playing' the U.S. for years

President Donald Trump blasted North Korea's efforts to develop nuclear missiles on Friday, saying Pyongyang has been 'playing' the U.S. for years

Trump has shown no sign of continuing the Obama administration's patient diplomacy with respect to Kim Jong-un's threatened nuclear buildup

Trump has shown no sign of continuing the Obama administration's patient diplomacy with respect to Kim Jong-un's threatened nuclear buildup

Trump's secretary of state, Rex Tillerson (shown being photographed by a North Korean soldier) said it may be necessary to take pre-emptive military action against Pyongyang if the threat from their weapons program reaches a level 'that we believe requires action'

Trump's secretary of state, Rex Tillerson (shown being photographed by a North Korean soldier) said it may be necessary to take pre-emptive military action against Pyongyang if the threat from their weapons program reaches a level 'that we believe requires action'

'Let me be very clear: the policy of strategic patience has ended,' Rex Tillerson told reporters as he drew a dramatic new line in the sand.

'The diplomatic and other efforts of the past 20 years to bring North Korea to a point of de-nuclearization have failed. So we have 20 years of [a] failed approach,' Donald Trump's top diplomat said during a visit to Japan. 

'And that includes a period in which the U.S. provided $1.35 billion in assistance to North Korea as an encouragement to take a different pathway.'

'If they elevate the threat of their weapons program to a level we believe requires action that option is on the table,' Tillerson added. 

And he said the U.S. won't rule out arming other nations in the Far East with nukes to help keep Pyongyang in check. 

Tillerson outlined a tougher strategy to confront North Korea's nuclear threat after visiting the world's most heavily armed border near the tense buffer zone between rivals North and South Korea.

Asked about the possibility of using military force against the North, Tillerson told a news conference in the South Korean capital, 'all of the options are on the table.'

Tillerson also told Fox News that the Trump administration hasn't ruled out giving nuclear weapons capabilities to U.S. allies in the Far East in order to keep Kim Jong-un in check

Tillerson also told Fox News that the Trump administration hasn't ruled out giving nuclear weapons capabilities to U.S. allies in the Far East in order to keep Kim Jong-un in check

He said the U.S. does not want a military conflict, 'but obviously if North Korea takes actions that threatens South Korean forces or our own forces, that would be met with [an] appropriate response. If they elevate the threat of their weapons program to a level that we believe requires action that option is on the table.'

But he said that by taking other steps, including sanctions, the US is hopeful that North Korea could be persuaded to take a different course before it reaches that point.

In an interview with the Fox News Channel, Tillerson added that the U.S. could nuclearize America's East Asian allies to deter North Korean aggression.

'We're exchanging views,' he said. 'Nothing has been taken off the table.'

Tillerson cut short his official duties during a stop in Tokyo, opting not to have meals with Japanese Foreign Minister Kishida and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

The Korea Herald cited Tillerson's 'fatigue' as the reason.

Past U.S. administrations have considered military force because North Korea's development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile to deliver them, but rarely has that option been expressed so explicitly.

Tillerson is the latest in a parade of senior U.S. officials to have their photos taken at the border. But it's the first trip by the new Trump administration's senior diplomat 

Tillerson is the latest in a parade of senior U.S. officials to have their photos taken at the border. But it's the first trip by the new Trump administration's senior diplomat 

North Korea has accelerated its weapons development, violating multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions and appearing undeterred by tough international sanctions. 

The North conducted two nuclear test explosions and 24 ballistic missile tests last year. Experts say it could have a nuclear-tipped missile capable of reaching the U.S. within a few years.

Tillerson is mid-way through a three-nation swing through Northeast Asia, which began in Japan and will end in China. 

North Korea has accelerated its weapons development, violating multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions and appearing undeterred by tough international sanctions

North Korea has accelerated its weapons development, violating multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions and appearing undeterred by tough international sanctions

State Department officials have described it as a 'listening tour' as the administration seeks a coherent North Korea policy, well-coordinated with its Asian partners. 

Earlier on Friday, Tillerson touched down by helicopter at Camp Bonifas, U.S.-led U.N. base about 400 meters (438 yards) from the Demilitarized Zone, a Cold War vestige created after the Korean War ended in 1953. 

He then moved to the truce village of Panmunjom inside the DMZ, a cluster of blue huts where the Korean War armistice was signed.

Tillerson is the latest in a parade of senior U.S. officials to have their photos taken at the border. But it's the first trip by the new Trump administration's senior diplomat.

The DMZ, which is both a tourist trap and a potential flashpoint, is guarded on both sides with land mines, razor wire fence, tank traps and hundreds of thousands of combat-ready troops. More than a million mines are believed to be buried inside the DMZ. 

Land mine explosions in 2015 that Seoul blamed on Pyongyang maimed two South Korean soldiers and led the rivals to threaten each other with attacks.

Hordes of tourists visit both sides, despite the lingering animosity. The Korean War ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty, which means the Korean Peninsula remains in a technical state of war.

President Donald Trump is seen as seeking to examine all options - including military ones - for halting the North's weapons programs before Pyongyang becomes capable of developing a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the U.S. mainland.

Earlier on Friday, Tillerson touched down by helicopter at Camp Bonifas, U.S.-led U.N. base about 400 meters (438 yards) from the Demilitarized Zone

Earlier on Friday, Tillerson touched down by helicopter at Camp Bonifas, U.S.-led U.N. base about 400 meters (438 yards) from the Demilitarized Zone

Central to the U.S. review is China and its role in any bid to persuade Pyongyang to change course. China remains the North's most powerful ally.

While the U.S. and its allies in Seoul and Tokyo implore Beijing to press its economic leverage over North Korea, the Chinese have emphasized their desire to relaunch diplomatic talks - a non-starter for the U.S. under current conditions.

The U.S. and China also disagree over U.S. deployment of a missile defense system to South Korea. The U.S. says it's a system focused on North Korea. China sees it as a threat to its own security.

Last week, North Korea launched four missiles into seas off Japan, in an apparent reaction to major annual military drills the U.S. is currently conducting with South Korea. Pyongyang claims the drills are a rehearsal for invasion.

In Beijing, a North Korean diplomat said Thursday that Pyongyang must act in self-defense against the drills, which he said have brought the region to the brink of nuclear war. He said the drills are aimed at using atomic weapons for a pre-emptive strike against North Korea. Washington says the maneuvers are routine and defensive.

During last year's election campaign, presidential candidate Trump called into question U.S. security alliances and called for Tokyo and Seoul to contribute more for their defense. Tillerson, however, stressed that cooperation with Japan and South Korea was 'critical.'

Japan and South Korea both host tens of thousands of U.S. troops. Washington has been urging its two allies to step up security cooperation despite their historically strained relations.

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