USA President Donald Trump says his patience with North Korea is over. The statement conveyed when entertaining South Korean President Moon Jae-in a state visit at the White House on Friday, June 30, 2017.
"The era of strategic patience with the North Korean regime has failed and honestly, that patience is over," said President Donald Trump, who was listened to by the President of the Moon at the White House.
The 45th US president also said that the United States is facing the threat of a brutal North Korean regime that does not heed the security and safety of people and its neighbors. "I promise that it will continue to protect US interests and coalitions in the region," he claimed.
Meanwhile, President Moon said that South Korea would crack down on threats and provocations by the North. South Korea is also committed to strengthen cooperation with the United States to improve defense in the region.
The South Korean president also urged North Korea to take diplomatic steps to ease tensions with the United States.
Trump Frustration, Nylon Back Stubborn
President Trump's statement above is one of many expressions of his frustration, which judges that all US efforts to stem the North, stagnated.
And sure enough, according to CNN proclamation on Tuesday, July 4, 2017, the country led by Kim Jong-un was re-launched the missile from a province in northern Pyongyang. According to the Joint Chiefs of Staff of South Korea, the missile was flying east of the Korean Peninsula.
The missile is suspected to fall in the waters of Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone which is approximately 200 nautical miles from the coastline. This was revealed by a spokesman for the Japanese Ministry of Defense, Takahiro Hirano.
The launch of the missile came after the threat of Donald Trump giving warnings to North Korea. The US and its allies are starting to get frustrated with the program's stoppage to stop Pyongyang's missile and nuclear drive.
The missile test also comes days after President Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe are committed to working with South Korea to step up pressure on North Korea. The commitment was expressed directly by Trump and Abe via telephone line.
In addition to contacting Prime Minister Abe, President Trump also telephoned Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday, July 2, 2017 evening local time, to discuss the growing threats of North Korea's missile development and warhead program. Possibly, Trump will also ask China to pressure North Korea through economic aspects.
Not only that, on Thursday, July 29, 2017, the US Treasury Department imposed sanctions on a number of financial and banking entities from China accused by Washington, DC as a "pipeline" with a North Korean business firm. The Chinese entities include Bank of Dandong, a company, and two individual financial advocates from China.
Despite the sanctions imposed on Chinese entities, the real target is North Korea.
"The sanctions are not aimed at China," said US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.
On a different occasion, the US national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, also agrees with Mnuchin's explanation.
"The sanctions are not actions to pressure China," said McMaster. "It is our effort to ask China to be able to further contribute to the (North Korea) problem," McMaster said.
Political experts also have a similar assessment that the US Treasury sanction against Bank Dandong is Washington's "message delivery" to Beijing to take firm action against Pyongyang.
"The message the US wants to convey to China is, 'Hey, we're trying to work with you for the (North Korea) problem, but you should make more efforts,' said Anthony Ruggiero, an analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies .