World Leaders Consider New Tougher Sanctions against North Korea
The countdown to the Winter Olympics in South Korea is on, and as of Wednesday, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un plans to send a delegation to compete in the games.
But that may change now that 20 nations agreed on Tuesday to consider tough new sanctions against the rogue regime.
During a daylong meeting in Vancouver, Canada, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warned Pyongyang it could trigger a military response if it did not choose negotiations over continuing its nuclear ballistic program.
Kim continues to refuse to give up development of nuclear missiles capable of hitting the United States in spite of increasingly severe United Nations sanctions, raising fears of a new war on the Korean Peninsula.
According to Reuters reporters at the meeting, Tillerson brushed off a question about a "bloody nose" strike.
"I'm a not going to comment on issues that have yet to be decided among the National Security Council or the president," said Tillerson.
However, it was reported he said the threat posed by North Korea was growing.
"We all need to be very sober and clear-eyed about the current situation... We have to recognize that the threat is growing and if North Korea does not chose the pathway of engagement, discussion, negotiation, then they themselves will trigger an option," Tillerson warned.
Meanwhile, debates continue within the Trump administration on what to do next.
As CBN News previously reported, Pentagon sources say Tillerson and Secretary of Defense James Mattis want to continue with a diplomatic solution, while National Security Adviser H.R, McMaster wants a pre-emptive strike on a North Korean nuclear or missile site.
The United States and Canada co-hosted the daylong meeting in Vancouver to discuss ways to increase pressure on Kim.
Attendees pledged to ensure that U.N. sanctions already in place were fully implemented, and the participants agreed in a joint statement "to consider and take steps to impose unilateral sanctions and further diplomatic actions that go beyond those required by U.N. Security Council resolutions."
Japan Speaks Out Against North Korea
Meanwhile, Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono told a Reuters news outlet in Vancouver that the world should not be naive about North Korea's "charm offensive" in engaging in talks with the South.
"It is not the time to ease pressure, or to reward North Korea," he warned. "The fact that North Korea is engaging in dialogue could be interpreted as proof that the sanctions are working."
Reuters reported South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said she hoped the dialogue would continue well beyond the Olympics, but stressed that existing sanctions must be applied more rigorously.
