Pence warns North Korea of U.S. resolve shown in Syria, Afghan strikes

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence put North Korea on notice on Monday, warning that recent U.S. strikes in Syria and Afghanistan showed that the resolve of President Donald Trump should not be tested.

Pence and South Korean acting president Hwang Kyo-ahn, speaking a day after a failed missile test by the North and two days after a huge display of missiles in Pyongyang, also said they would strengthen anti-North Korea defences by moving ahead with the early deployment of the THAAD missile-defence system.

Pence is on the first stop of a four-nation Asia tour intended to show America's allies, and remind its adversaries, that the Trump administration was not turning its back on the increasingly volatile region.

"Just in the past two weeks, the world witnessed the strength and resolve of our new president in actions taken in Syria and Afghanistan," Pence said in a joint appearance with Hwang.

"North Korea would do well not to test his resolve or the strength of the armed forces of the United States in this region," Pence said.

The U.S. Navy this month struck a Syrian airfield with 59 Tomahawk missiles after a chemical weapons attack. On Thursday, the U.S. military said it had dropped "the mother of all bombs", the largest non-nuclear device it has ever unleashed in combat, on a network of caves and tunnels used by Islamic State in Afghanistan.

North Korea's KCNA news agency on Monday carried a letter from leader Kim Jong Un to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad marking the 70th anniversary of Syria’s independence.

"I express again a strong support and alliance to the Syrian government and its people for its work of justice, condemning the United States’ recent violent invasive act against your country," Kim said.

On a visit to the border between North and South Korea earlier in the day, Pence, whose father served in the 1950-53 Korean War, said the United States would stand by its "iron-clad alliance" with South Korea.

"All options are on the table to achieve the objectives and ensure the stability of the people of this country," he told reporters as tinny propaganda music floated across from the North Korean side of the so-called demilitarized zone (DMZ).

"There was a period of strategic patience but the era of strategic patience is over."

ECONOMIC TALKS

Pence is expected to discuss rising tension on the Korean peninsula with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Tuesday when he travels to Tokyo to kick off economic talks with Finance Minister Taro Aso.

Pence will meet business leaders in Seoul before departing - a "listening session" he will reprise at other stops on his tour in Tokyo, Jakarta and Sydney.

His economic discussions will be closely watched to see how hard a line Washington is prepared to take on trade. Trump campaigned for office on an "America First" platform, and has vowed to narrow big trade deficits with nations like China, Germany and Japan.

But Trump has also shown he is willing to link trade to other issues, saying he would cut a better trade deal with China if it exerts influence on North Korea to curb its nuclear ambitions.

Trump acknowledged on Sunday that the softer line he had taken on China's management of its currency was linked to its help on North Korea.

The United States, its allies and China are working on a range of responses to North Korea's latest failed ballistic missile test, Trump's national security adviser said on Sunday, citing what he called an international consensus to act.

China has spoken out against the North's weapons tests and has supported U.N. sanctions. It has repeatedly called for talks while appearing increasingly frustrated with the North.

But Pence and Hwang said they were troubled by retaliatory economic moves by China against the deployment in South Korea of a U.S. anti-missile system known as the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD).

South Korea, which accuses China or discriminating against some South Korean companies working in China, and the United States say the sole purpose of THAAD is to guard against North Korean missiles.

China says its powerful radar can penetrate its territory and undermine its security and spoke out against it again on Monday.

Source: Reuters

Mike Pence faces calls to clarify US stance on EU during visit to Brussels

The United States vice president met several European Union senior officials in Brussels on Monday in a diplomatic bid to soothe concerns over US President Donald Trump's apparently dismissive attitude towards the bloc.

During his visit to the EU's seat of power, Mike Pence met with European Council president Donald Tusk, European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini.

"Today it is my privilege on behalf of President Trump to express the strong commitment of the United States to continued cooperation and partnership with the European Union," said Pence during a joint press conference with Tusk.

He continued: "whatever our differences, our two continents share the same heritage, the same values and, above all, the same purpose; to promote peace and prosperity through freedom, democracy and the rule of law."

Pence reiterated his country's pledge to fight terror on a cooperative basis as well as its continued policy to hold Russia accountable for its actions in the Ukraine conflict_ a growing concern for some EU leaders who see Trump's approach to Moscow as soft.

Tusk said he had pressed Pence to clarify the US commitment to both the unity of the EU and the function of the trans-Atlantic Alliance.

Trump raised eyebrows in the international defense community when he described NATO as an "obsolete" organization and Tusk used the press conference on Monday to firmly reject this notion.

He went on to say the unity of the EU and the strength of NATO were cornerstones of the Western world and must, therefore, be protected.

Tusk said Pence had agreed with him on this point during their closed-door meeting but added that now "both Europeans and Americans must simply practice what they preach."

Several of the president's remarks have also sparked alarm among EU political officials, including his apparent support for Brexit and his recent suggestions that other EU member states may yet follow suit.

During his press conference with Pence, Juncker said: "I don't think that the moment has come to divide the US and the European Union."

The Luxembourgish politician said "global stability is heavily dependent on the good relations between the United States of America and the European Union. I think the US needs a strong, united EU on all possible issues."

In response, Pence said the US would continue to build on the cooperation and partnership it has with the EU.

Global stability, and more particularly the cooperative fight against international terror, was the principle theme of Pence's talks earlier with EU foreign policy representative Federica Mogherini.

In a statement following her meeting with the vice president, Mogherini said she "reaffirmed a strong willingness of the EU to continue building a strong EU-US partnership on the basis of clear values and interests."

They discussed at depth the mutual priorities such as the security threats posed by instability and conflict in Syria, Ukraine, Libya, and Afghanistan, among others.

Mogherini later took to Twitter where she described the encounter as an "Excellent meeting, good basis for our cooperation."

Mike Pence was due to meet the head of NATO while in Brussels, an organization to which he pledged the US' "unwavering support" during a speech over the weekend at the Munich Security Conference in Germany.

Source: EFE