Tillerson sees no ‘imminent threat’ of N. Korea attack, defends Trump’s ‘fire and fury’ threat

GUAM – Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Wednesday defended President Donald Trump's forceful warning to North Korea to stop threatening the United States, and dismissed concerns Guam is in any imminent danger from Pyongyang's missiles.

"What the president is doing is sending a strong message to North Korea in language that Kim Jong Un would understand, because he doesn't seem to understand diplomatic language," Tillerson said during an interview with two pool reporters while flying from Malaysia to a scheduled refueling stop in Guam.

"I think the president just wanted to be clear to the North Korean regime that the U.S. has the unquestionable ability to defend itself, will defend itself and its allies, and I think it was important that he deliver that message to avoid any miscalculation on their part."

On Tuesday, Trump sharply ratcheted up rhetoric against North Korea, saying it would face "fire and fury" if it does not stop threatening the United States. Trump did not make clear whether he was responding to the latest bellicose remarks from North Korea or a report in The Washington Post that the North had successfully produced a miniaturized nuclear warhead capable of fitting inside its ballistic missiles.

Hours after Trump's comments, North Korea said it was preparing to send intermediate-range missiles near Guam, which is home to more than 160,000 U.S. citizens, including some 6,000 members of the armed forces. U.S. bombers have flown out of Guam on their way to joint exercises with South Korea and Japan over the Korean Peninsula.

Tillerson is returning home from Asia, where he continued his campaign to get more countries fully enforcing U.N. sanctions against North Korea over its ballistic missile and nuclear testing, with an ultimate aim forcing it to the bargaining table.

While Pyongyang has been making bombastic threats against the United States for some time, as the pace of its testing has accelerated its warnings have grown more specific and directed against the United States.

On Monday in Manila, where Tillerson was attending a regional security conference, North Korea's Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho issued a lengthy statement vowing his country would never relinquish its nuclear weapons. Ri said the "nukes" would only be used against the United States, and he noted that the entire U.S. mainland was in North Korea's firing range.

Tillerson said Guam is in no more danger than anywhere else, and naming the island as a target did not deter him from making a scheduled refueling stop.

"Well, the North Korean missile capability can point at many directions," he said. "So Guam is not the only place that can be under threat. No, I never considered rerouting the trip back. And I do not believe that there is any imminent threat, in my own view. "

Tillerson said North Korea's rhetoric shows that the campaign to turn North Korea's allies against it is working.

Russia and China, North Korea's main economic lifelines, both supported a new set of U.N. sanctions passed last weekend that could cut the country's revenue by a third. And the Association of Southeast Asian Nations passed a statement expressing "grave concern" over North Korea's actions.

Tillerson said he knew of no significant changes in the last 24 hours that could speed the move to military action. Nor does he see any reason for a change in strategy. Diplomatic and economic isolation is working, he said, even if it could take a long time to materialize.

"I think in fact the pressure is starting to show," he said. "I think that's why the rhetoric coming out of Pyongyang has gotten louder and more threatening."

Tillerson said Americans should not worry about the increasingly angry tone displayed in recent days.

"I think what the president was just reaffirming is that the United States has the capability to fully defend itself from any attack, and our allies, and we will do so," he said. "So the American people should sleep well at night."