Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Sunday he will continue diplomatic efforts with North Korea “until the first bomb drops.”
“The president has made clear to me that he wants this solved diplomatically,” Tillerson told CNN’s Jake Tapper. “He’s not seeking to go to war. He has made it clear to me to continue my diplomatic efforts, which we are and we will. As I’ve told others, those diplomatic efforts will continue until the first bomb drops.”
Tillerson sought to downplay any split with President Trump over the administration’s policy to confront North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests.
Trump earlier this month said Tillerson was “wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man,” referring to Kim Jong Un, the North Korea leader.
Tillerson insisted Sunday Trump’s comment did not undermine the secretary of state’s diplomatic efforts, and had strategic value.
“What the president is doing is he’s trying to motivate action on a number of people’s part, [in] particular the regime in North Korea,” Tillerson said. “He does want to be clear with Kim Jong Un and that regime in North Korea that he has military preparations ready to go. He has those military options on the table. We have spent substantial time actually perfecting those.”
The secretary of state said Trump’s decision announced Friday to decertify the Iran nuclear deal, which has been criticized by European allies who helped negotiate the deal, would not impact the administration’s diplomatic approach to North Korea.
Critics have suggested North Korea would be less willing to engage and trust the U.S. because Trump is seeking to renegotiate the deal with Iran, despite Tehran’s technical compliance with the agreement.
“What North Korea should take away from this decision [on Iran] is that the United States will expect a very demanding agreement with North Korea,” Tillerson said.
“One that is very binding and achieves the objectives not just of the United States, but the policy objectives of China and other neighbors in the region — a denuclearized Korean peninsula. We intend to be very demanding in that agreement. If we achieve that, there will be nothing to walk away from because the objective will be achieved.”
