US rejects China’s call to halt drills if N.Korea stops tests

TIL Desk/World/United Nations-The United States has rejected China’s proposal for a halt to joint US-South Korean military exercises if North Korea suspends its nuclear and missile activities. It yesterday called North Korean leader Kim Jong Un irrational and demanded “positive action” before the US can take his regime seriously.

In Washington, US State Department acting spokesman Mark Toner said, “At this point we don’t see it as a viable deal.” A Pentagon spokesman, Cmdr Gary Ross, said US activities to defend South Korea “cannot be equated to North Korea’s repeated violations of its obligations and agreements.”

The US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, told reporters after an emergency Security Council meeting on North Korea’s latest ballistic missile launches that the United States must see “some sort of positive action” by Kim’s regime before discussing ways to reduce tensions on the Korean Peninsula. “They’ve given us enough reason to think how irresponsible that they are that we ever try and think that we’re dealing with a rational person on this,” she said.