Rex Tillerson
© Bryan R. Smith / ReutersRex Tillerson
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, speaking before the UN Security, has threatened to suspend diplomatic relations and impose additional sanctions affecting third parties with North Korea unless Pyongyang abandons its nuclear weapons program.

Secretary of State Tillerson said on Friday that for years North Korea has dictated the terms of its "dangerous course of action and it's time for us to retake control of the situation."


Comment: Seems like instead of "taking control" the US is backing down from military confrontation to threatening any country which has a diplomatic relationship with N. Korea. Most likely what happened is that Trump and his war hawk generals were merely talking tough about going after N. Korea and actually never had any plans to do anything but borrow from their obviously unsuccessful Russia strategy of using sanctions to force change. As with Russia, it's not going to work. T-Rex Tillerson thinks the US still has a big bite, but he's going to realize that US hegemonic dominance is not what it used to be.


Tillerson said that for too long the international community has been reactive and the "policy of strategic patience is over, additional patience will only lead to a nuclear North Korea."

Tillerson said since 1995 the US has provided $1.3 billion in aid to North Korea, and the US looks forward to renewing its contributions, but that Pyongyang must dismantle its nuclear weapons program if it wants to achieve international respect.

Tillerson said North Korea must take "concrete steps" towards dismantling nuclear weapons "before we can being talks." The secretary of state said North Korea has spent billions on nuclear weapons "while its people starved."


Comment: It's certainly possible that people in N. Korea are starving, but for Tillerson to make such a provocative statement he ought to have some facts and evidence to back up such claims. If he cares so much about people starving, someone should remind him that people in the US are starving while the US government sends billions in aid to Israel to support an apartheid regime that is committing war crimes against an entire nation.


"Business as usual is not an option. All options for responding to future provocation must remain on the table," said Tillerson, "and military action if necessary."

"We must prefer a negotiated solution," the US official added.