Tillerson: If Pressure Approach on North Korea Fails, Few Good Options Will Remain

Rex Tillerson, the U.S. Secretary of State, stated on Friday that if diplomatic pressures to curb North Korea's nuclear and missile programs fail, there will be "not many good options" left to resolve the crisis. According to Reuters, Tillerson made these comments after a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Hamburg, Germany, saying, "We have not lost hope in this regard." The U.S. Secretary of State emphasized that the U.S. approach to intensifying pressure on North Korea through sanctions requires patience. He referred to this approach as a "peaceful pressure campaign" that would lead to a peaceful resolution of the dispute; otherwise, if these efforts fail, there will not be many good options left. Tillerson clarified that the diplomatic approach necessitates a calculated increase in pressure while allowing the regime to respond to these pressures. Therefore, understanding the effectiveness of such actions requires some time. North Korea announced on Tuesday that it successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile. Several U.S. officials have confirmed the test of the "intercontinental missile." Reuters reports that experts believe the missile test on Tuesday is a significant step toward equipping these ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads. In this context, Nikki Haley, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, stated on Wednesday that the U.S. is prepared to use military options against North Korea if necessary, but prefers an international diplomatic action regarding North Korea's recent missile tests. The U.S., Japan, and South Korea agreed on Friday to present a new resolution to the United Nations Security Council to intensify sanctions against North Korea. According to Reuters, diplomats at the UN say the U.S. has presented a draft resolution against North Korea to China. However, the U.S. faces opposition from China and Russia for the approval of such a resolution. Meanwhile, two U.S. officials told Reuters on Friday that the U.S. plans to test its THAAD missile defense system against a medium-range ballistic missile in the coming days. Although the THAAD missile defense system test was planned months ago, it will be particularly significant due to North Korea's intercontinental missile test on Tuesday. In this context, Russia opposed the UN Security Council's statement condemning North Korea.