(03) US warns of ‘actions’ if North Korea proceeds with nuclear test

https://www.ft.com/content/e9905a1c-22b3-11e7-8691-d5f7e0cd0a16

US warns of 'actions' if North Korea proceeds with nuclear test

Trump says Washington working with China to put pressure on Pyongyang

6 hours ago

The Trump administration has signalled it would hold back from any immediate military or diplomatic response to a failed missile launch by North Korea but warned of "other actions" if Pyongyang proceeded with a nuclear test.

National security adviser Lieutenant General HR McMaster cited last week's US missile strike on a Syrian air base as he said on Sunday that President Donald Trump was "clearly comfortable making tough decisions" and that a range of options were being developed.

Separately, a foreign policy adviser travelling to Asia with vice-president Mike Pence said that if it had been a nuclear test, "other actions would have been taken by the US". 

North Korea test-launched a ballistic missile early on Sunday, with the weapon exploding almost immediately in a failure that came only a day after Pyongyang displayed several new missiles at a huge military parade.

Tension is rising on the Korean peninsula, with Beijing warning last week that a "storm is about to break" because of rising brinkmanship. Mr Trump has ordered an aircraft carrier group, led by the USS Carl Vinson, to the region, which is expected to arrive this week. 

North Korea is very vulnerable to pressure from the Chinese. Eighty per cent of North Korea's trade comes from China. All of their energy requirements are fulfilled by China

The foreign policy official travelling with Mr Pence said Sunday's test by North Korea was probably of a medium-range missile, and he signalled that the US was not expecting to respond directly to it. 

"For this particular case, if they took the time and energy to launch a missile that failed, we don't need to expend any resources against that," the official said. "We weren't surprised by it, we were anticipating it. It wasn't a matter of if, it was a matter of when. The good news is that after five seconds it fizzled out." 

North Korea has conducted five nuclear tests, including two last year, and the US has been watching to see whether it tries a sixth, something that would be taken as a more provocative event than a missile launch.

Speaking on ABC News, Lt Gen McMaster said: "This national security team is capable of rapidly responding to those sorts of crises or incidents and events and providing the president with options."

The administration did not want to telegraph how it would respond to certain situations but he added: "It's clear that the president is determined not to allow this kind of capability to threaten the United States." 

While Mr Trump has said he is willing to act alone on North Korea, Lt Gen McMaster made it clear that the US was emphasising the ability of China to bring pressure to bear on North Korea. While the US was relying on its allies, he added: "We're also going to have to rely on Chinese leadership. I mean, North Korea is very vulnerable to pressure from the Chinese. Eighty per cent of North Korea's trade comes from China. All of their energy requirements are fulfilled by China." 

Earlier, Mr Trump had defended his decision last week not to brand China a currency manipulator, apparently linking the reversal in his foreign exchange policy to China's willingness to work with the US on North Korea.

"Why would I call China a currency manipulator when they are working with us on the North Korea problem? We will see what happens," he tweeted.