SEOUL, South Korea -- President Donald Trump asserted on Sunday that China was working with the United States on "the North Korea problem," and his vice president told American and South Korean servicemen that the North's latest "provocation," a failed missile launch shortly before his arrival in Seoul, laid bare the risks they face.
"This morning's provocation from the North is just the latest reminder of the risks each one of you face each and every day in the defense of the freedom of the people of South Korea and the defense of America in this part of the world," Vice President Mike Pence said at an Easter dinner at Yongsan military base in Seoul, South Korea, where he was beginning a 10-day tour of Asia.
Pence placed a wreath at Seoul National Cemetery and then worshipped with military personnel at an Easter church service at the U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan. Pence is scheduled to meet with Hwang Kyo-ahn, the acting president of South Korea, today to discuss the North Korean threat.
Pence said he had spoken with Trump, who asked him to convey to the troops stationed in South Korea that "we're proud of you and we're grateful for your service."
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Trump, spending the Easter weekend at his Florida resort, reinforced his commitment to the armed forces under his control. "Our military is building and is rapidly becoming stronger than ever before," he tweeted.
But Trump's national security adviser said "it's time for us to undertake all actions we can, short of a military option, to try to resolve this peacefully."
In a broadcast interview that aired on Sunday, H.R. McMaster said the U.S. would rely on its allies as well as on Chinese leadership to resolve the issues with North Korea. "I mean, North Korea is very vulnerable to pressure from the Chinese," McMaster said on ABC's This Week.
Any U.S. military strike risks leading to a war that may devastate South Korea and Japan, two American allies in striking range of retaliatory attacks. China has backed North Korea since the peninsula was last at war in the 1950s, in part to prevent having an American ally on its border.
The bottom line, McMaster said, is to stop the North's weapons development and make the Korean Peninsula nuclear-free: "It's clear that the president is determined not to allow this kind of capability to threaten the United States. And our president will take action that is in the best interest of the American people."
After a two-month policy review, officials settled on a policy dubbed "maximum pressure and engagement," U.S. officials said Friday. The administration's immediate emphasis, the officials said, will be on increasing pressure on North Korea with the help of China.
The officials weren't authorized to speak publicly on the results of the policy review and requested anonymity.
Pence will be responsible for explaining the policy in meetings with leaders in South Korea and Japan at the start of his trip, which will also include stops in Indonesia and Australia. He will also aim to reassure allies in South Korea and Japan that the U.S. will take appropriate steps to defend them against North Korean aggression.
Missile failure
Pence was aboard Air Force Two flying over the Bering Sea when a North Korean missile exploded during launch on Sunday, U.S. and South Korean officials said. The high-profile failure came as the North tried to showcase its nuclear and missile capabilities around the birth anniversary of the North's late founder and as a U.S. aircraft carrier neared the Korean Peninsula.
A White House foreign policy adviser traveling with Pence said no U.S. response to the missile launch was expected because there was no need for the U.S. to reinforce the failure. The adviser spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the administration's initial understanding of the launch.
Deputy national security adviser K.T. McFarland briefed the president on the failed missile launch. She advised patience with China on the issue.
"North Korea is a liability to everybody and it's a threat not just to the United States, not just to South Korea, not just to Japan, not just to Russia, but it's actually a threat to China as well," McFarland said on Fox News Sunday.
Initial reports indicate the projectile launched on Sunday was a medium-range missile, not an intercontinental ballistic missile, and failed after about four or five seconds, a White House foreign policy adviser told reporters. While the U.S. has a range of options to deal with North Korea, it won't need to expend any resources to respond in this case, the adviser said.
U.S. and South Korean military officials are conducting further analysis of the missile launch, which took place at Sinpo on North Korea's eastern coastline. Japan's Defense Ministry will work closely with the U.S. and South Korea to gather and analyze information on North Korea, it said on its website.
North Korea's activities "are a threatening demonstration against the entire world," South Korea's Foreign Ministry said in a statement. "We have to warn again that if this leads to a strategic provocation of a nuclear or ICBM test, the North will face strong punitive measures that it will find hard to endure."
China's State Councilor Yang Jiechi and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson exchanged views on the situation on the Korean Peninsula by phone on Sunday, China's Foreign Ministry said, without giving more details.
Trump's very strong preference is for China, North Korea's dominant trade partner, to take the lead on dealing with North Korea, said the people familiar with the White House's strategy.
Last week, Trump said he would not declare China a currency manipulator, pulling back from a campaign promise.
"Why would I call China a currency manipulator when they are working with us on the North Korean problem? We will see what happens!" Trump tweeted on Sunday.
China called key
Lawmakers said in television news interviews broadcast Sunday that China holds the key to resolving tensions with North Korea.
"There is the realization that if China does cut off all transactions with North Korea, we'll be in a position where once again the dictator will not be able to pay his generals," Rep. Edward Royce, R-Calif., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said on CNN's State of the Union.
"We need to keep the pressure on China to rein North Korea in," said House Armed Services Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, speaking on Fox News Sunday. Thornberry said the United States should also increase its military presence in the region.
On State of the Union, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., warned the Trump administration not to act "impulsively" or "unilaterally" on North Korea.
"The key, I think, to this situation -- and I think President Trump understands this -- is dealing with China," Sanders said.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, agreed in an interview on NBC's Meet the Press that "China is the key."
"They can stop this if they want to because of their control over the North Korean economy," McCain said.
Trump's shifts in foreign policy were a focal point in some of the interviews.
When Meet the Press host Chuck Todd told McCain that some might think Trump was following the "Washington establishment," McCain replied, "I hope so," before adding, "No, on national security, I do believe he has assembled a strong team and, I think very appropriately, he's listening to them."
Information for this article was contributed by Ken Thomas of The Associated Press; by Julie Hirschfeld Davis of The New York Times; by Kanga Kong, Justin Sink, Jennifer Jacobs, Tsuyoshi Inajima and Michelle Jamrisko of Bloomberg News; and by Sean Sullivan of The Washington Post.
A Section on 04/17/2017