Tillerson presses Russia, China for continuing North Korea ties

Bloomberg

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called out Russia and China at the UN for giving North Korea an economic lifeline, even as the top US diplomat struggled to staunch confusion over the US position on conditions for talks with Kim Jong Un’s regime. Addressing the United Nations Security Council, Tillerson said China and Russia’s refusal to sever ties with Pyongyang raises questions about their commitment to resolving what he called America’s “greatest national security threat.” He reasserted the US vow to use “all necessary measures” to defend against Kim’s efforts to perfect nuclear-armed missiles that can hit the American mainland.
But beyond the rhetoric, there were no new measures taken up by the council. And after suggesting earlier this week that the Trump administration would be open to talks with North Korea after a period of calm and without the US imposing other “preconditions,” Tillerson pulled back from that formulation.
“North Korea must earn its way back to the table,” Tillerson said at the UN meeting, called by Japan to discuss a Nov. 28 missile test Kim’s regime. “The pressure campaign must, and will, continue until denuclearization is achieved. We will, in the meantime, keep our channels of communication open.”
Tillerson’s UN appearance is the latest push in the Trump administration’s effort to persuade other countries to isolate North Korea by kicking out its diplomats and cutting remaining economic links.
The US has made clear it believes Russia and China hold the key to diplomatic success, and Tillerson called on them to go “beyond full implementation of the UN Security Council resolutions” in pressuring North Korea. Specifically, he demanded that Russia stop allowing entry to North Korean guest workers, whose wages are sent home to help fund the regime. Moscow’s decision to keep allowing guest workers in the country “calls into question Russia’s dedication as a partner for peace,” Tillerson said.
He also said China — North Korea’s biggest trading partner — must cut crude oil shipments. China argues that such a move would provoke a humanitarian disaster. Tillerson said China’s refusal to stop the oil flow leads the US to question its “commitment to solving an issue that has serious implications for the security of its own citizens.” Those comments earned rebukes from Chinese and Russian diplomats.
“It is not helpful to impose on any one party the responsibility for resolving the problem,” said China’s deputy UN ambassador, Wu Haitao. “The parties should move toward each other instead of engaging in mutual blaming.” Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya rejected Tillerson’s call for “unilateral” action outside the Security Council and said Tillerson’s claim that North Koreans were working in slave-like conditions in Russia weren’t true.
North Korea’s Ambassador Ja Song Nam defiantly told the Security Council that North Korea will continue its efforts to become a nuclear power, saying the effort is needed for his country’s self-defense and the US is to blame for tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Tillerson was swift to reject that, taking the microphone one last time as the meeting wound down to say North Korea “alone must take responsibility for these tensions.”
The stakes for the meeting had only grown in recent days. North Korea said the most recent test showed it was capable of hitting the entire US, although Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters at the Pentagon that the regime has not yet shown it’s “a capable threat to the US mainland.”
A United Nations envoy to North Korea, Jeffrey Feltman, returned from a recent trip to the country deeply worried about the prospects for bringing an end to Kim’s nuclear weapons program. And, President Donald Trump spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin, saying the US “would love to have his help on North Korea” because right now, “Russia is not helping.”