US Secretary of State Acknowledges Possibility of Nuclearization of Asian Allies

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in an interview on Saturday that he doesn’t rule out the possibility of nuclear weapons in Japan and South Korea to counter North Korean aggression.

Tillerson opened up his six-day official trip to Asia announcing that the US would consider "all options" to deal with the circumstances that could evolve on the Korean Peninsula, including arming regional allies with nukes.

According to Tillerson, the long drawn policy of “strategic patience” toward North Korea has to stop and give way to a more effective approach to halt the regime’s advancing nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

"If they elevate the threat of their weapons program to a level we believe requires action that option is on the table," he told reporters.

The Secretary of State, however, emphasized that the US didn’t want tensions to escalate to a military conflict and that the suspension of North Korea’s weapons programs would negate any thought or need for its neighbors to develop their own nukes.

"Our objective is to have the regime in North Korea come to a conclusion that the reasons that they have felt they have had to develop nuclear weapons, those reasons are not well-founded," he told reporters.

Tillerson made it clear Washington was very concerned with the “imminent” threat of North Korea and called on China for stronger cooperation with the US to deter the secluded communist state from nuclearization.

Despite United Nations' sanctions and calls for denuclearization worldwide, North Korea has conducted five nuclear tests and a number of missile launches, with some government officials and experts believing that the DPRK (Democratic Republic of Korea) is drawing dangerously close to developing a rocket capable of striking the US.

North Korea is behaving very badly. They have been "playing" the United States for years. China has done little to help!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 17 марта 2017 г.