WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — The United States is ready to put more sanctions on North Korea if Pyongyang continues to carry out missile launches and nuclear tests, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in his address to department employees on Wednesday.
"We are preparing additional sanctions if it turns out North Korea’s actions warrant additional sanctions," Tillerson said. "We are hopeful that the regime in North Korea will think about this and come to a conclusion that there is another way to the future."
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula escalated as Pyongyang carried out a number of missile launches and nuclear tests in the recent months, which are considered to be in violation of the UN Security Council resolutions.
As a response to the potential use of nuclear weapons, the United States sent a strike group led by US aircraft carrier Carl Vinson to the Korean Peninsula, where it began exercises with the South Korean navy.
US media reported that US President Donald Trump might order a strike against North Korea in light of its military activities. The North Korean top officials said the country was ready for nuclear attacks in case of possible US military aggression.
