Secretary of State Rex Tillerson capped off a whirlwind weekend at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Ministerial meeting in Manilla, Philippines by suggesting the United States would be open to dialogue if North Korea stopped its provocative actions.
“The best signal that North Korea could give us that they’re prepared to talk would be to stop these missile launches”, Tillerson told reporters Monday in response to a question about what preconditions North Korea would have to meet in order for the U.S. to come to the negotiating table.
“We’ve not had an extended period of time where they have not taken some type of provocative action by launching ballistic missiles. So I think that would be the first and strongest signal they could send us is just stop, stop these missile launches.”
Tillerson’s remarks came after a flurry of diplomatic activity over the weekend in regards to North Korea.
In a strongly worded statement released on Saturday at the onset of meetings, ASEAN foreign ministers emphasized their commitment to see North Korea denuclearize in order to create “conditions conducive for dialogue to de-escalate tensions”.
“We strongly call upon the DPRK, as a participant of the ASEAN Regional Forum, to positively contribute to realise the ARF vision to maintain the Asia-Pacific as a region of lasting peace, friendship, and prosperity”, the statement said.
Also on Saturday, the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution strengthening sanctions on North Korea in response to its intercontinental ballistic missile tests (ICBM) tests conducted on July 3 and July 28.
Resolution 2371 imposes bans on North Korean exports of coal, iron and iron ore, and seafood, as well as sanctions designations against North Korean individuals and entities which support the country’s nuclear and missile programs. The New York Times quoted a UN diplomat as estimating the sanctions could cost Pyongyang one billion dollars—one third of its annual export revenue.
U.S. Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley praised the passage of the resolution, stating that it was the “single largest economic sanctions package ever leveled against the North Korean regime”.
“Our goal remains a stable Korean peninsula, at peace, without nuclear weapons. We want only security and prosperity for all nations- including North Korea. Until then, this resolution and prior ones will be implemented to the fullest to maximize pressure on North Korea to change its ways”, Haley remarked in her statement after the vote to pass the resolution.
Ambassador Haley later told CNN, “This was a gut punch to North Korea today. They can either now take heed and say ‘Okay, let’s stop. Let’s start being responsible and seeing another avenue, or they can continue what they are doing, and the international community will continue to respond.”
U.S. President Donald Trump, in a series of tweets on his official Twitter account, also praised the passage of the U.N. resolution.
“Just completed call with President Moon of South Korea. Very happy and impressed with 15-0 United Nations vote on North Korean sanctions”, Trump tweeted Sunday.
China did not veto the UN resolution, and after the vote, Foreign Minister Wang Yi called on North Korea to stop carrying out nuclear and ballistic missile tests, and urged dialogue.
After meeting with North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-Ho while at the ASEAN summit in Manila on Sunday, Wang said he told Ri, “Do not violate the U.N.’s decision or provoke the international society’s good will by conducting missile launching or nuclear tests.”
Nevertheless, there were reservations from Beijing.
Several editorials from official Chinese state publications appeared on Monday, questioning the effect of the new sanctions and criticizing the U.S. for the deployment of an anti-missile defense system known as THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) in South Korea.
“Sanctions to the greatest possible extent must avoid causing negative impacts to ordinary people and to third countries, and avoid bringing disaster to the country in question’s normal and legal trade and business exchanges with the outside world, people’s normal lives and the humanitarian situation”, wrote The People’s Daily, according to Reuters.
In its editorial, The Global Times stated, “The West should be reminded to exercise restraint. If it believes it is only North Korea rather than the U.S. and South Korea as well to blame for the nuclear issue, this ill-fitting mindset will not help solve the crisis.”
North Korea responded forcefully to the new sanctions, pledging retaliation against the United States.
In a statement released to the government-operated Korean Central News Agency, the North Korean government vowed to make the U.S. “pay a thousand-fold for all the heinous crimes it commits against the state and people of this country.”
Verdi Tzou is a national security web editor at The Cipher Brief.
