Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called for an aggressive new set diplomatic and economic sanctions on North Korea in a Friday speech to the United Nations, in which he also said North Korea presents a real risk of nuclear war.
“Failing to act now on the most pressing security issue in the world may bring catastrophic consequences,” Tillerson said at a meeting of the UN Security Council. “Additional patience will only mean acceptance of a nuclear North Korea. The more we bide our time, the sooner we will run out of it.”
To that end, Tillerson suggested several punitive actions to cut off international funding for the regime. In addition to asking the Council to “suspend or downgrade diplomatic relations” with the regime, Tillerson called for new sanctions to “increase North Korea’s financial isolation” and threatened to punish anyone who provides financial support to the regime.
“This new pressure campaign will be swiftly implemented and painful to North Korean interests,” Tillerson said. “I realize some nations for which a relationship with North Korea has been in some ways a net positive may be disinclined to implement the measures of pressure on North Korea, but the catastrophic effects of a North Korean nuclear strike outweigh any economic benefits.”
There were signs of skepticism about Tillerson’s plan even before he spoke, when UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres preempted his proposal to isolate North Korea diplomatically.
“The absence of communication channels with the DPRK would be dangerous,” Guterres said, using an acronym for the regime. “Armed conflict in northeast Asia… would have global implications. We need to avoid miscalculation and misunderstanding. We need to act now to prevent conflict and achieve sustainable peace.”
