North Korean Official Says US President Donald Trump has "Lit The Wick" Of War
Rex Tillerson, the US Secretary of State, says diplomatic efforts to resolve the nuclear stand-off with North Korea will continue "until the first bomb drops".
For weeks President Donald Trump has hinted he is ready to take military action while aiming subtle and not-so-subtle digs at his chief diplomat, saying on one occasion that Mr Tillerson was "wasting his time" trying to negotiate with Pyongyang.
The mixed messaging has raised fears the world was inching towards war by raising the chance for miscalculation of misunderstanding with North Korea, the Telegraph reported.
On Sunday Mr Tillerson insisted there was no confusion or division within the administration.
"The president has also made clear to me that he wants this solved diplomatically. He is not seeking to go to war," he told CNN.
"He has made it clear to me to continue our diplomatic efforts - which we are. As I've told others, those diplomatic efforts will continue until the first bomb drops."
North Korea has made no secret that its weapons programme is focused on building inter-continental ballistic missiles capable of delivering a nuclear payload to the US mainland.
That threat has brought several sets of new sanctions in recent weeks and frantic diplomatic activity.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says US diplomacy with North Korea 'will continue until first bomb drops'. Photo / Getty
European ministers meeting in Luxembourg are expected on Monday to agree a fresh round designed to cut off sources off cash that prop up Kim Jong-un's regime and its missile programme.
The proposals extend a ban on EU investment in the rogue state and exports of European oil will be ended. More names will be added to the list of regime officials and companies that are hit by asset freezes and travel bans.
A review of the banned luxury goods lists will be carried out and the cap on personal payments sent to North Korea reduced from 15,000 to 5,000 euro.
The efforts stand in contrast to Mr Trump who has frequently talked up the military options at his disposal - ranging from regime change to pinpoint strikes to take out nuclear missiles before launch.
The contrast in approaches has led to speculation that Mr Tillerson and his diplomatic efforts have been sidelined within the administration.
During the interview with Jake Tapper on State of the Union, Mr Tillerson was also quizzed on his relationship with Mr Trump, amid reports that he called the President a "moron" and growing divisions among the national security team on Iran.
"I'm not playing," he answered, as he added that he believed remaining in the Iran nuclear deal was in America's best interests as did the President.
"Let's see if we cannot address the flaws within the [Iran] agreement by staying within the agreement, working with the other signatories," he said.
On Friday, Mr Trump signalled a major break with the foreign policy of Barack Obama by refusing to re-certify the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran.
However, he has stopped short of abandoning it altogether by passing it to Congress, which now has 60 days to decide whether to reimpose sanctions in a move that would signal American withdrawal from the deal.
Although Mr Trump is still threatening to withdraw, the decision represents a compromise of sorts. The President is able to talk tough on Iran while allowing the deal to live on, marrying his campaign rhetoric - describing the agreement as the worst deal in American history - with the geo-political reality.
