Trump Not to Tolerate Threats to Allies, Partners From North Korea – State Dept.
SputnikNews.com
17.04.2017
Donald Trump will not let North Korea threaten US allies, the US Department of State said.
WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — President Donald Trump will not allow North Korea to threaten any US allies or its partners in the region, US Department of State Acting Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Susan Thornton said in a press briefing on Monday.
“The President [Trump] was also very clear that he will not accept the United States and its allies and partners in the region being under threat from this hostile regime and its missile and nuclear programs,” Thornton stated.
Earlier on Monday, Vice President Mike Pence said during his visit to South Korea that US military strikes on enemy forces in Afghanistan and Syria show the shift in Washington’s strategy to halt North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
On April 14, US media said that Trump might order a strike against North Korea in the event Pyongyang decided to carry out another nuclear weapon test. The reports came after Trump said that the North Korean nuclear issue would be “taken care of,” while at the same time calling on China to pressure its neighbor into giving up its nuclear program.
In response, the general staff of the North Korean armed forces threatened to launch a strike against US military bases in Japan and South Korea, as well as the presidential residence in Seoul in case of US aggression.
On April 15, North Korea reportedly test-launched a missile but the experiment failed.
“There hasn’t been any change and there hasn’t certainly been anything about the decision making process that would indicate any change [of THAAD deployment in South Korea],” Thornton added. “So we’re on track as far as that goes for THAAD Deployment.”
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