Bill Chappell, The Two-Way, Breaking News From NPR,\u00a0August 9, 2017<\/p>\n
As two nuclear-armed leaders trade threats, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says that President Trump “is sending a strong message to North Korea in language that Kim Jong Un would understand, because he doesn’t seem to understand diplomatic language.”<\/p>\n
The language has been increasingly fiery. After Trump said on Tuesday<\/a> that if North Korea continues to threaten the U.S., the country would “be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen,” the North Korean regime responded by saying it’s considering a missile strike on the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam.<\/p>\n Tillerson offered his take on the current tensions during a quick stop in Guam, where his plane refueled on a tour that has included a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Speaking to reporters on his plane, Tillerson said he didn’t see an imminent threat to Guam and hadn’t considered changing his route.<\/p>\n According to a pool report from his talk with reporters aboard the State Department plane, Tillerson was also asked if Americans should be worried. He replied, “I think Americans should sleep well at night” and not be concerned by recent statements.<\/p>\n The escalation in rhetoric follows a U.N. Security Council resolution to strengthen economic sanctions against North Korea \u2014 a measure that could block roughly a third of the country’s exports. And on the same day Trump and Kim exchanged barbs, a report emerged that U.S. intelligence analysts believe North Korea has succeeded in developing a miniaturized nuclear warhead<\/a> that can fit on its missiles.<\/p>\n Speaking Wednesday morning, Tillerson said, “Nothing I have seen and nothing I know of would indicate that situation has dramatically changed in the last 24 hours.<\/p>\n As for the recent exchanges between Trump and North Korea, Tillerson said, “I think the U.S. and the international community with respect to North Korea, has actually had a pretty good week,” citing the sanctions and statements of solidarity from nations at the ASEAN meetings in the Philippines.<\/p>\n