Trump says China working with US on North Korea problem

RT
Mon, 17 Apr 2017 09:09 UTC

US President Donald Trump (R) and Chinese President Xi Jinping

US President Trump has said that China is working on the "North Korean problem" with Washington, while Pyongyang states they will be building up its nuclear capacity until the US stops its 'nuclear blackmail.'

"Why would I call China a currency manipulator when they are working with us on the North Korean problem? We will see what happens!" Trump said on Twitter.

The tweet comes just as US security advisor Herbert Raymond McMaster stated that "all options are on the table for North Korea," during his visit to Afghanistan.

McMaster also branded North Korea "a hostile regime," and Kim Jong-un an unpredictable leader who's "demonstrated his brutality." He also said the US government is working on a range of options for North Korea with its partners, including the Chinese leadership.

Earlier this month, Trump hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping at his Mar-a-Lago resort. Beijing has already started applying pressure on Pyongyang, refusing coal imports from North Korea.

Earlier this week, China's official Global Times daily media outlet said Beijing would back harsher UN sanctions against North Korea, including "strictly limiting" oil exports to Pyongyang.

It comes as North Korea's Foreign Ministry emphasized that the North would be building up its nuclear potential until the US stops its "nuclear blackmail," in an interview with Russian media.

"Since the 1950s, the US has been constantly threatening our country, and blackmailing it with nuclear weapons, and the [43rd US President's] Bush administration declared us an 'axis of evil', and underlined their state policy not to acknowledge our regime, and included our country on the list of preventive nuclear strikes," Kim Yong-ho, deputy for the first European department at the North Korean Foreign Ministry, said as quoted by RIA Novosti.

"Currently, in South Korea, the US is conducting joint maneuvers, mobilizing destroyers and an aircraft carrier [designed] for nuclear war, and practically working on an attack on our country. We have repeatedly declared that while the US continues the nuclear blackmail, while they carry on with war games, we will be building up our nuclear might and our capacity for a preventive nuke strike," the diplomat added.

Comment: Three US aircraft carriers, USS Carl Vinson, USS Ronald Reagan and USS Nimitz, will enter the Sea of Japan next week, Yonhap News Agency reported, citing a South Korean government source.

Washington and Seoul are discussing joint drills, which will include the three aircraft carriers, with USS Carl Vinson expected to enter the Sea of Japan by April 25 and other ships joining it, according to the report.

On Sunday night, South Korean and US military reported registering what they believed to be a failed missile test by Pyongyang.

Beijing and Moscow have launched intelligence-gathering vessels to follow the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier as it travels toward the Korean Peninsula, according to numerous sources in the Japanese government.

The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier and its group are believed to be in waters around the East China Sea, heading north toward the Korean Peninsula.

China and Russia, which prioritize stability on the Korean Peninsula, have expressed their concern over the tough US stance towards North Korea, with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov saying the issue should be resolved peacefully through political and diplomatic efforts.

The dispatch of the intelligence-gathering vessels may be aimed at sending a warning signal to the United States, reports have speculated.

No official comments from the Russian Defense Ministry were available at the time of publication.

US Vice President Pence arrived at military base Camp Bonifas in South Korea, located next to the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea, according to a White House pool report on Monday.

Pence reportedly arrived at the base around 9:30 a.m. local time [00:30 GMT] and was expected to visit the DMZ, a narrow strip of land that acts as a buffer zone between the two countries.

The US vice president's three-day visit to South Korea began on Sunday.

According to the CNN broadcaster, Pence said on the second day of his three-day visit to South Korea that the "era of strategic patience is over" during his visit to Camp Bonifas military base, located next to the Demilitarized Zone, separating North and South Korea.

The vice president also reportedly said that US President Donald Trump was hoping that China would help "bring about a change of policy in North Korea. An abandonment of its nuclear weapons program and its ballistic missile program."