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North Korea: Talking is not the answer, says Trump North Korea: US 'never out of diplomatic solutions'
(about 4 hours later)
US President Donald Trump has said that "talking is not the answer" in dealing with North Korea's military operations. US Defence Secretary James Mattis has said the US is "never out of diplomatic solutions" in dealing with North Korea.
"The US has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years," he wrote on Twitter. It comes after President Donald Trump tweeted that "talking is not the answer" to the country's military ambitions.
But the US Defence Secretary, James Mattis, insisted on Wednesday that there was still room for diplomacy. Russia has also warned the US against taking military action, saying it would be "fraught with unpredictable consequences".
North Korea has said its firing of a missile over Japan on Tuesday was "the first step" of military operations in the Pacific. North Korea caused alarm by firing a missile over Japan on Tuesday.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has told US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson by phone that any further strengthening of sanctions against North Korea would be counter-productive. The missile, which Japan called an "unprecedented" threat, crossed the northern Hokkaido region early on Tuesday, triggering public alerts to take cover, before landing in the sea about 1,180km (730 miles) off the coast.
Mr Trump's comments come just days after he said that North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was "starting to respect" the US. North Korea later said it was "the first step" of wider military operations in the Pacific, and repeated its threats to the US Pacific island of Guam.
On Tuesday, Pyongyang fired a ballistic missile over Japan's northern Hokkaido island, triggering public alerts to take cover before landing in the sea. Just days ago, Mr Trump had said he believed North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was "starting to respect" the US.
Speaking ahead of a meeting at the Pentagon with his South Korean counterpart, Song Young-moo, Mr Mattis said, "We are never out of diplomatic solutions." But in a tweet late on Wednesday, he said: "The US has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer!"
Russia has said that US military activity in the region is partly to blame for the increase in tensions, and has urged restraint and called for negotiations. But when asked whether it was true that the US had lost hope in diplomacy, Mr Mattis openly disagreed with the president saying: "No. We are never out of diplomatic solutions."
Mr Lavrov stressed on Wednesday that diplomacy was the only way to overcome tensions on the Korean peninsula, which have been escalating in recent months. He was speaking as he met his South Korean counterpart, Song Young-moo, at the Pentagon.
North Korean state media this week also repeated threats to the US Pacific island of Guam, which it called "an advanced base of invasion". "We continue to work together, and the minister and I share a responsibility to provide for the protection of our nations, our populations and our interests."
Mr Trump said earlier this month that any such threats would "be met with fire and fury". Russia, which shares a tiny border with North Korea and a maritime border with Japan, has said that US military activity in the region is partly to blame for the increase in tensions.
The UN Security Council has unanimously condemned North Korea for its military actions. In a phone call on Wednesday, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that diplomacy was the only way to overcome tensions on the Korean peninsula, which have been escalating in recent months.
Meeting late on Tuesday in New York, the council called the launch "outrageous", demanding North Korea cease all missile testing. A military solution would be "fraught with unpredictable consequences," Reuters quoted Mr Lavrov as saying.
While the statement said the regime's actions were a threat to all UN member states, it did not threaten new sanctions against Pyongyang. He also said any further strengthening of sanctions against North Korea by the UN would be counter-productive.
North Korea has repeatedly conducted missile launches in recent months, despite being barred from doing so under UN rules. Meeting on Tuesday, the UN Security Council had unanimously condemned the launch and again demanded North Korea cease all missile testing. But it did not push for new sanctions.
The latest, a domestically made Hwasong-12, was launched early on Tuesday Korean time from a site near Pyongyang. Speaking in Geneva at a UN Conference on Disarmament, North Korean diplomat Ju Yong-chol insisted the North would not be stifled and "will not hesitate to take further tougher counter-measures."
It travelled some 2,700km (1,678 miles), at an unusually low height for North Korean missile tests, over Hokkaido before crashing about 1,180km off Japan's eastern coast. He said Pyongyang strongly rejected the "fabricated" stories that it was to blame for the tensions of the Korean peninsula.
Japan sent out alerts telling people in Hokkaido to take cover. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe later called it "unprecedented, serious and a grave threat".
For the first time, North Korea's official news agency KCNA admitted deliberately firing a ballistic missile across Japan. Previous projectiles which crossed the mainland were later claimed to have been satellite launches.
North Korea's missile programme:North Korea's missile programme:
Have North Korea's missile tests paid off?Have North Korea's missile tests paid off?