US President Donald Trump insisted on leaving the door open for a military action in North Korea following Pyongyang’s continuing provocations, though he insisted on his preference for a diplomatic solution and China’s key role in easing tensions.
“If (North Korean leader Kim Jong-un) prepares a nuclear test, I will not be happy. And I do not think Xi, who is a respected man, is happy either,” Trump said in an interview on “Face the Nation “Of the CBS network.
About the possibility that the US Resorting to a military solution to the actions of the North Korean regime said: “I do not know, we’ll see.”
Pyongyang on Saturday carried out a new test of a ballistic missile that apparently exploded minutes after it was launched, according to South Korean and US military sources.
Trump avoided speaking about it, and kept his usual vagueness on the subject.
“It’s a game of chess. I do not want people to know what I’m thinking,” he added.
In the interview, Trump acknowledged the ability of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un to ensure that “at a very young age, he was able to take over” and “many people, I’m sure, tried to take power away from him.”
But, he stressed, “he was able to maintain it, so he’s obviously a tough, tough guy.”
For a solution, the president said that the role of China is key, as it is one of the few interlocutors that Pyongyang pays attention to.
Trump repeated that he spoke on the issue with Chinese President Xi Jiping during his meeting in Florida earlier this month and hoped that the reduction of tensions would go through the success of the Beijing mediation.
“The relationship I have with China has already been praised as something very special, something very different from what we had. But of course, we will see if President Xi is capable of making a change (about North Korea),” he added.
Yesterday, in an act celebrating its first 100 days in power, Trump reiterated that he is working with the Chinese authorities to solve a problem that he described as “complicated.”
In fact, he insisted that his decision not to designate China as a currency manipulator, as he had promised, responds to close cooperation with Beijing.
“It is not the time to designate China as a currency manipulator,” he said.
This week, Trump stressed that he prefers a “diplomatic” solution to the escalation of tensions, which threatens two of Washington’s major allies in the region: South Korea and Japan, but said there is a choice that will eventually trigger A big conflict.
Last Friday, the UN Security Council held a special session of ministers in New York to discuss the threats posed by the North Korean nuclear program.
At that meeting, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said North Korea represents “the most pressing security issue in the world” and argued that the international community needs to act urgently and do so more forcefully than before.
In this regard, he reiterated the need to increase the pressure on the Pyongyang regime to force the country to abandon its nuclear program and again sent the message that “strategic patience is over.”
Since Kim Jong-un came to power in late 2011, the North Korean regime has carried out between 50 and 75 missile tests, most of which have been successful, in order to improve its weapon technology.
North Korea has warned that it is finalizing the development of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of reaching the United States, although experts are skeptical that its capabilities are so advanced.
