United States threatens North Korea with military action

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is touring Asia and it looks like the hard part has just begun. After Japan and South Korea, both US allies, Tillerson will be visiting China on Saturday and the tone of the visit is already set. On Friday he made it clear that the new administration in the US will not be as tolerant towards North Korea as the previous one was. US is now prepared to take a more aggressive stance towards North Korea. Whether or not this stance will translate into preemptive military action will depend largely on how China reacts to the situation.

North Korea has been showing of their advancing ballistic-missile technology frequently causing distress to US allies Japan and South Korea. The US’s displeasure was made quite evident by President Donald Trump when he criticized North Korea and China both. North Korea is behaving very badly,” he said on Twitter. “They have been ‘playing’ the United States for years. China has done little to help!”

North Korea and China have been allies for a long time, and much of North Korea’s economy depends on China in order to stay afloat. China has always shown a soft spot for North Korea which is evident by the fact that, every year they send substantial monetary aids to the country. According to a recent study by Sayari Analytics, 40% of North Korea’s foreign currency comes from 600 Chinese companies. China has also changed its stance towards North Korea somewhat. They recently imposed a suspension on coal imports from North Korea. Though they said at the time that the limit of imports as determined by United Nations sanctions has been reached, later reports showed that only 30% of the quota was actually imported.

Rex Tillerson has already mentioned during his stay in South Korea that negotiations with North Korea regarding their nuclear and missile programs are off the table. During his stay in China, Tillerson will most likely try to push China into punishing the 600 Chinese companies that serve as a economic lifeline to North Korea’s declining economy.

All eyes will be on how Tillerson handles the situation in China and how China responds to the pressure. But as it looks like North Korea and US are heading into a collision in the near future, it is possible that China might rethink its policy regarding North Korea and try to rein its ally in.