U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to his Florida retreat on Thursday for face-to-face meetings where Trump will raise concerns that Beijing should rein in its trade practices and do more to curb North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.

Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, drove down a palm-lined driveway past a military honor guard to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. They posed for pictures with Trump and his wife Melania before going inside.

The leaders of the world’s two biggest economies were expected to spend some private time together before a dinner with their wives and others, kicking off a summit dominated by trade and foreign policy issues that is set to conclude with a working lunch on Friday.

Trump promised during the 2016 campaign to stop what he called the theft of American jobs by China and rebuild the country’s manufacturing base. Many blue-collar workers helped propel him to his unexpected election victory on Nov. 8 and Trump wants to deliver for them.

“We have been treated unfairly and have made terrible trade deals with China for many, many years. That’s one of the things we are going to be talking about,” Trump told reporters traveling with him on Air Force One.

Trump, a former real estate magnate, is still finding his footing in the White House and has yet to spell out a strategy for what his advisers called a trade relationship based on “the principle of reciprocity.”

He brought his top economic and national advisers to Florida for the meeting, including Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

“Even as we share a desire to work together, the United States does recognize the challenges China can present to American interests,” said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, also in Florida for the meeting.

Trump and Xi are set to dine in a candle-lit ornate private dining room at 6:30 p.m. (2230 GMT) at a long, formal table set for about 30 people and festooned with red and yellow floral centerpieces.

Their summit brings together two leaders who could not seem more different: the often stormy Trump, prone to angry tweets, and Xi, outwardly calm, measured and tightly scripted, with no known social media presence.

What worries the protocol-conscious Chinese more than policy clashes is the risk that the unpredictable Trump could publicly embarrass Xi, after several foreign leaders experienced awkward moments with the new U.S. president.

“Ensuring President Xi does not lose face is a top priority for China,” a Chinese official said.

U.S. labor leaders say Trump needs to take a direct, unambiguous tone in his talks with Xi.

“President Trump needs to come away from the meeting with concrete deliverables that will restore production and employment here in the U.S. in those sectors that have been ravaged by China’s predatory and protectionist practices,” said Holly Hart, legislative director for the United Steelworkers union.

A U.S. administration official told Reuters that Washington expects to have to use legal tools to fight for U.S. companies, such as pursuing World Trade Organization lawsuits.

“I don’t expect a grand bargain on trade. I think what you are going to see is that the president makes very clear to Xi and publicly what we expect on trade,” a U.S. official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The most urgent problem facing Trump and Xi is how to persuade nuclear-armed North Korea to halt unpredictable behavior like missile test launches that have heightened tensions in South Korea and Japan.

North Korea is working to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting the United States.

The White House has said North Korea was a test for the U.S.-China relationship, and Trump has threatened to use trade to try to force China to exert influence over Pyongyang.

“I think China will be stepping up,” Trump told reporters. Beijing says its influence is limited and that it is doing all it can but that it is up to the United States to find a way back to talks with North Korea.

Trump consulted on Wednesday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who said he and the president agreed by phone that North Korea’s latest ballistic missile launch was “a dangerous provocation and a serious threat.”

A White House strategy review is focusing on options for pressuring Pyongyang economically and militarily. Among measures under consideration are “secondary sanctions” against Chinese banks and firms that do the most business with Pyongyang.

A long-standing option of pre-emptive strikes remains on the table, but despite the tougher recent U.S. talk, the internal review “de-emphasizes direct military action,” the U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Analysts believe any military action would likely provoke severe North Korean retaliation and massive casualties in South Korea and Japan and among U.S. troops stationed there.</s>Donald Trump might have warned that the USA was prepared to solve the North Korea nuclear threat on its own but that’s clearly not been enough to stop the secretive state from carrying out missile tests.

Last night it launched a ballistic missile into the sea off its east coast just days before the US President was set to sit down with Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss the problem.

The Republican has warned China that if it wasn’t going to solve the North Korea nuclear threat then the USA will, following a series of test launches carried out in recent months.

A South Korean official confirmed the launch saying: ‘The launch took place possibly in consideration of the U.S. -China summit, while at the same time it was to check its missile capability.’

The ballistic missile tests being carried out by North Korea are in violation of UN Security Council resolutions.

North Korea failed in an attempt to launch a ballistic missile from its east coast two weeks ago.

But earlier in March, it fired four missiles towards Japan, some of which came as close as 190 miles to the Japanese coast.

It has also conducted two nuclear weapons tests since January 2016, all in defiance of U.N. sanctions.

In a terse statement, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said: ‘The United States has spoken enough about North Korea. We have no further comment.’

MORE: Selfie-obsessed police officer arrested on suspicion of dealing Class A drugs

MORE: You’re more likely to avoid parking fines if you live in these areas</s>U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met face-to-face for the first time on Thursday, spending some social time together with their wives before digging in to the thorny trade and security issues that bedevil the relationship between the world’s two largest economies.

Trump said he wants to raise concerns about China’s trade practices and urge Xi to do more to rein in North Korea’s nuclear ambitions in the talks, though no major deals on either issue were expected.

Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, drove down a palm-lined driveway past a military honor guard to Trump’s Spanish-style Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, welcomed by Trump and his wife Melania before going inside.

The couples posed for pictures sitting on sofas in the resort’s formal living room. They were set to dine in a candle-lit ornate private dining room at 6:30 p.m. (2230 GMT) at a long table set for about 30 people and festooned with red and yellow floral centerpieces.

They were expected to get into more detailed discussions about trade and foreign policy issues on Friday, concluding their summit with a working lunch.

Trump promised during the 2016 presidential campaign to stop what he called the theft of American jobs by China and rebuild the country’s manufacturing base. Many blue-collar workers helped propel him to his unexpected election victory on Nov. 8 and Trump wants to deliver for them.

“We have been treated unfairly and have made terrible trade deals with China for many, many years. That’s one of the things we are going to be talking about,” Trump told reporters traveling with him on Air Force One.

Trump, a former real estate magnate, is still finding his footing in the White House and has yet to spell out a strategy for what his advisers called a trade relationship based on “the principle of reciprocity.”

He brought his top economic and national advisers to Florida for the meeting, including Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

“Even as we share a desire to work together, the United States does recognize the challenges China can present to American interests,” said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, also in Florida for the meeting.

The dinner comes as Trump and his national security team face a completely different weighty foreign policy issue: how to respond to a deadly poison gas attack in Syria. A U.S. official said the White House and Pentagon were discussing military options.

Their summit brings together two leaders who could not seem more different: the often stormy Trump, prone to angry tweets, and Xi, outwardly calm, measured and tightly scripted, with no known social media presence.

What worries the protocol-conscious Chinese more than policy clashes is the risk that the unpredictable Trump could publicly embarrass Xi, after several foreign leaders experienced awkward moments with the new U.S. president.

“Ensuring President Xi does not lose face is a top priority for China,” a Chinese official said.

U.S. labor leaders say Trump needs to take a direct, unambiguous tone in his talks with Xi.

“President Trump needs to come away from the meeting with concrete deliverables that will restore production and employment here in the U.S. in those sectors that have been ravaged by China’s predatory and protectionist practices,” said Holly Hart, legislative director for the United Steelworkers union.

A U.S. administration official told Reuters that Washington expects to have to use legal tools to fight for U.S. companies, such as pursuing World Trade Organization lawsuits.

“I don’t expect a grand bargain on trade. I think what you are going to see is that the president makes very clear to Xi and publicly what we expect on trade,” a U.S. official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Trump has often complained Beijing undervalues its currency to boost trade, but his administration looks unlikely to formally label China as a currency manipulator in the near term - a designation that could come with penalties.

The most urgent problem facing Trump and Xi is how to persuade nuclear-armed North Korea to halt unpredictable behavior like missile test launches that have heightened tensions in South Korea and Japan.

North Korea is working to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting the United States.

The White House has said North Korea was a test for the U.S.-China relationship, and Trump has threatened to use trade to try to force China to exert influence over Pyongyang.

“I think China will be stepping up,” Trump told reporters. Beijing says its influence is limited and that it is doing all it can but that it is up to the United States to find a way back to talks with North Korea.

Trump consulted on Wednesday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who said he and the president agreed by phone that North Korea’s latest ballistic missile launch was “a dangerous provocation and a serious threat.”

A White House strategy review is focusing on options for pressuring Pyongyang economically and militarily. Among measures under consideration are “secondary sanctions” against Chinese banks and firms that do the most business with Pyongyang.

A long-standing option of pre-emptive strikes remains on the table, but despite the tougher recent U.S. talk, the internal review “de-emphasizes direct military action,” the U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Analysts believe any military action would likely provoke severe North Korean retaliation and massive casualties in South Korea and Japan and among U.S. troops stationed there.</s>WASHINGTON, April 6 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump flew to Florida on Thursday to hold his first meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, facing pressure to deliver trade concessions for some of his most fervent supporters and prevent a crisis with North Korea from spiraling out of control.

The leaders of the world's two biggest economies are to greet each other at the president's Mar-a-Lago retreat in Palm Beach, Florida, late in the afternoon and dine together with their wives, kicking off a summit that will conclude with a working lunch on Friday.

White House officials have set low expectations for the meeting, saying it will set the foundation for future dealings.

Trump promised during the 2016 campaign to stop what he called the theft of American jobs by China and rebuild the country's manufacturing base. Many blue-collar workers helped propel him to his unexpected election victory on Nov. 8 and Trump wants to deliver for them.

The Republican president tweeted last week that the United States could no longer tolerate massive trade deficits and job losses and that his meeting with Xi "will be a very difficult one."

Trump, a former real estate magnate, is still finding his footing in the White House and has yet to spell out a strategy for what his advisers called a trade relationship based on "the principal of reciprocity."

"I don´t expect a grand bargain on trade. I think what you are going to see is that the president makes very clear to Xi and publicly what we expect on trade," a U.S. official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

U.S. labor leaders say Trump needs to take a direct, unambiguous tone in his talks with Xi.

"President Trump needs to come away from the meeting with concrete deliverables that will restore production and employment here in the U.S. in those sectors that have been ravaged by China's predatory and protectionist practices," said Holly Hart, legislative director for the United Steelworkers union.

The U.S. official told Reuters that Washington expects to have to prepare its own actions to fight for U.S. companies, such as pursuing World Trade Organization lawsuits.

"We have the legal tools and a lot of authorities that have not been exercised in the past to fight back and you now have the political will, from the president on down, to do that," the official said.

The summit will bring together two leaders who could not seem more different: the often stormy Trump, prone to angry tweets, and Xi, outwardly calm, measured and tightly scripted, with no known social media presence.

What worries the protocol-conscious Chinese more than policy clashes is the risk that the unpredictable Trump could publicly embarrass Xi, after several foreign leaders experienced awkward moments with the new U.S. president.

"Ensuring President Xi does not lose face is a top priority for China," a Chinese official said.

The most urgent problem facing Trump and Xi is how to persuade nuclear-armed North Korea to halt unpredictable behavior like missile test launches that have heightened tensions in South Korea and Japan.

North Korea is working to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting the United States.

The White House has said North Korea was a test for the U.S.-China relationship, and Trump has threatened to use trade to try to force China to exert influence over Pyongyang.

Beijing says its influence is limited and that it is doing all it can but that it is up to the United States to find a way back to talks with North Korea.

Trump consulted on Wednesday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who said he and the president agreed by phone that North Korea's latest ballistic missile launch was "a dangerous provocation and a serious threat."

A White House strategy review is focusing on options for pressuring Pyongyang economically and militarily. Among measures under consideration are "secondary sanctions" against Chinese banks and firms that do the most business with Pyongyang.

"We have not in any way put the kind of sanctions on North Korea that we have the ability to do," the U.S. administration official said.

"I think there is an understanding here that if you put those types of sanctions on North Korea then the military option is not really necessary," the official said.

A long-standing option of pre-emptive strikes remains on the table, but despite the tougher recent U.S. talk, the internal review "de-emphasizes direct military action," the U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Analysts believe any military action would likely provoke severe North Korean retaliation and massive casualties in South Korea and Japan and among U.S. troops stationed there. (Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick in Washington, Gui Qing Koh in New York, Ben Blanchard in Beijing and William Mallard in Tokyo; Editing by Caren Bohan, Peter Cooney and Lisa Shumaker)</s>U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to his Florida retreat on Thursday for face-to-face meetings where Trump will raise concerns that Beijing should rein in its trade practices and do more to curb North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.

Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, drove down a palm-lined driveway past a military honor guard to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida. They posed for pictures with Trump and his wife Melania before going inside.

The leaders of the world’s two biggest economies were expected to spend some private time together before a dinner with their wives and others, kicking off a summit dominated by trade and foreign policy issues that is set to conclude with a working lunch on Friday.

Trump promised during the 2016 campaign to stop what he called the theft of American jobs by China and rebuild the country’s manufacturing base. Many blue-collar workers helped propel him to his unexpected election victory on Nov. 8 and Trump wants to deliver for them.

“We have been treated unfairly and have made terrible trade deals with China for many, many years. That’s one of the things we are going to be talking about,” Trump told reporters traveling with him on Air Force One.

Trump, a former real estate magnate, is still finding his footing in the White House and has yet to spell out a strategy for what his advisers called a trade relationship based on “the principle of reciprocity.”

He brought his top economic and national advisers to Florida for the meeting, including Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

“Even as we share a desire to work together, the United States does recognize the challenges China can present to American interests,” said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, also in Florida for the meeting.

Trump and Xi are set to dine in a candle-lit ornate private dining room at 6:30 p.m. t a long, formal table set for about 30 people and festooned with red and yellow floral centerpieces.

Their summit brings together two leaders who could not seem more different: the often stormy Trump, prone to angry tweets, and Xi, outwardly calm, measured and tightly scripted, with no known social media presence.

What worries the protocol-conscious Chinese more than policy clashes is the risk that the unpredictable Trump could publicly embarrass Xi, after several foreign leaders experienced awkward moments with the new U.S. president.

“Ensuring President Xi does not lose face is a top priority for China,” a Chinese official said.

U.S. labor leaders say Trump needs to take a direct, unambiguous tone in his talks with Xi.

“President Trump needs to come away from the meeting with concrete deliverables that will restore production and employment here in the U.S. in those sectors that have been ravaged by China’s predatory and protectionist practices,” said Holly Hart, legislative director for the United Steelworkers union.

A U.S. administration official told Reuters that Washington expects to have to use legal tools to fight for U.S. companies, such as pursuing World Trade Organization lawsuits.

“I don’t expect a grand bargain on trade. I think what you are going to see is that the president makes very clear to Xi and publicly what we expect on trade,” a U.S. official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The most urgent problem facing Trump and Xi is how to persuade nuclear-armed North Korea to halt unpredictable behavior like missile test launches that have heightened tensions in South Korea and Japan.

North Korea is working to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting the United States.

The White House has said North Korea was a test for the U.S.-China relationship, and Trump has threatened to use trade to try to force China to exert influence over Pyongyang.

“I think China will be stepping up,” Trump told reporters. Beijing says its influence is limited and that it is doing all it can but that it is up to the United States to find a way back to talks with North Korea.

Trump consulted on Wednesday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who said he and the president agreed by phone that North Korea’s latest ballistic missile launch was “a dangerous provocation and a serious threat.”

A White House strategy review is focusing on options for pressuring Pyongyang economically and militarily. Among measures under consideration are “secondary sanctions” against Chinese banks and firms that do the most business with Pyongyang.

A long-standing option of pre-emptive strikes remains on the table, but despite the tougher recent U.S. talk, the internal review “de-emphasizes direct military action,” the U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Analysts believe any military action would likely provoke severe North Korean retaliation and massive casualties in South Korea and Japan and among U.S. troops stationed there.</s>PALM BEACH, Fla.: U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met face-to-face for the first time on Thursday, spending some social time together with their wives before digging in to the thorny trade and security issues that bedevil the relationship between the world's two largest economies.

Trump said he wants to raise concerns about China's trade practices and urge Xi to do more to rein in North Korea's nuclear ambitions in the talks, though no major deals on either issue were expected.

Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, drove down a palm-lined driveway past a military honour guard to Trump's Spanish-style Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, welcomed by Trump and his wife Melania before going inside.

The couples posed for pictures sitting on sofas in the resort's formal living room. They were set to dine in a candle-lit ornate private dining room at 6:30 p.m. (2230 GMT) at a long table set for about 30 people and festooned with red and yellow floral centrepieces.

They were expected to get into more detailed discussions about trade and foreign policy issues on Friday, concluding their summit with a working lunch.

Trump promised during the 2016 presidential campaign to stop what he called the theft of American jobs by China and rebuild the country's manufacturing base. Many blue-collar workers helped propel him to his unexpected election victory on Nov. 8 and Trump wants to deliver for them.

"We have been treated unfairly and have made terrible trade deals with China for many, many years. That’s one of the things we are going to be talking about," Trump told reporters travelling with him on Air Force One.

Trump, a former real estate magnate, is still finding his footing in the White House and has yet to spell out a strategy for what his advisers called a trade relationship based on "the principle of reciprocity."

He brought his top economic and national advisers to Florida for the meeting, including Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, and Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross.

"Even as we share a desire to work together, the United States does recognise the challenges China can present to American interests," said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, also in Florida for the meeting.

The dinner comes as Trump and his national security team face a completely different weighty foreign policy issue: how to respond to a deadly poison gas attack in Syria. A U.S. official said the White House and Pentagon were discussing military options.

Their summit brings together two leaders who could not seem more different: the often stormy Trump, prone to angry tweets, and Xi, outwardly calm, measured and tightly scripted, with no known social media presence.

What worries the protocol-conscious Chinese more than policy clashes is the risk that the unpredictable Trump could publicly embarrass Xi, after several foreign leaders experienced awkward moments with the new U.S. president.

"Ensuring President Xi does not lose face is a top priority for China,” a Chinese official said.

U.S. labour leaders say Trump needs to take a direct, unambiguous tone in his talks with Xi.

"President Trump needs to come away from the meeting with concrete deliverables that will restore production and employment here in the U.S. in those sectors that have been ravaged by China's predatory and protectionist practices," said Holly Hart, legislative director for the United Steelworkers union.

A U.S. administration official told Reuters that Washington expects to have to use legal tools to fight for U.S. companies, such as pursuing World Trade Organization lawsuits.

"I don’t expect a grand bargain on trade. I think what you are going to see is that the president makes very clear to Xi and publicly what we expect on trade," a U.S. official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Trump has often complained Beijing undervalues its currency to boost trade, but his administration looks unlikely to formally label China as a currency manipulator in the near term - a designation that could come with penalties.

The most urgent problem facing Trump and Xi is how to persuade nuclear-armed North Korea to halt unpredictable behaviour like missile test launches that have heightened tensions in South Korea and Japan.

North Korea is working to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting the United States.

The White House has said North Korea was a test for the U.S.-China relationship, and Trump has threatened to use trade to try to force China to exert influence over Pyongyang.

“I think China will be stepping up,” Trump told reporters. Beijing says its influence is limited and that it is doing all it can but that it is up to the United States to find a way back to talks with North Korea.

Trump consulted on Wednesday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who said he and the president agreed by phone that North Korea's latest ballistic missile launch was "a dangerous provocation and a serious threat."

A White House strategy review is focussing on options for pressuring Pyongyang economically and militarily. Among measures under consideration are “secondary sanctions” against Chinese banks and firms that do the most business with Pyongyang.

A long-standing option of pre-emptive strikes remains on the table, but despite the tougher recent U.S. talk, the internal review “de-emphasizes direct military action,” the U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Analysts believe any military action would likely provoke severe North Korean retaliation and massive casualties in South Korea and Japan and among U.S. troops stationed there.</s>The Trump administration has reportedly concluded its North Korea policy review, but there seems to be a great deal of uncertainty about how President Donald Trump will constrain the regime’s nuclear weapons development.

 

 Pyongyang yet again defied international warnings and launched a medium range ballistic missile into its eastern waters early Wednesday, in what appeared to be an effort to develop a nuclear-tipped missile that could strike the U.S. mainland. The missile fired at a land-based facility near the North’s eastern coastal city of Sinpo, flew a distance of about 60 kilometers, but “did not pose a threat to North America,” the U.S. Pacific Command said.

Shortly after the missile launch, Seoul and Tokyo responded with condemnation, calling the test a blunt challenge to U.N. Security Council resolutions and a “path to self-destruction.” Washington, however, issued a terse statement, prompting North Korea analysts to speculate about what could have been behind Washington’s unusual restraint.

"North Korea launched yet another intermediate range ballistic missile. The United States has spoken enough about North Korea. We have no further comment,” U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said.

Dennis Wilder, a former senior director for East Asian affairs at the National Security Council under President George W. Bush, views Tillerson’s statement as a dire warning to North Korea, and said Wednesday that it also appears to be part of an “open strategy” by Trump’s White House to put pressure on China.

“Yes, [it is] a warning that the United States is losing patience with the North Koreans and their antics,” said Wilder, who is now a Georgetown University professor, “and we are tired of giving [Kim Jong Un] attention and that as the president said, it’s time for the Chinese to make a strategic decision on North Korea.”

With Trump’s policy toward North Korea yet to be defined publicly, uncertainty runs high, making it difficult to pinpoint the intent of Tillerson’s statement, Bruce Klingner, a former CIA deputy division chief for Korea, said Wednesday.

“Like so many of the statements by President Trump and Mr. Tillerson, it leaves itself open for different interpretations and misinterpretations,” said Klingner, a senior research fellow at The Heritage Foundation. “But one would have hoped they would have at least pointed out that it’s a violation and reflects North Korea’s continuing defiance of the international community.”

Some experts question whether the statement was an appropriate response from the nation’s top diplomat, who until being sworn in Feb. 1, was ExxonMobil CEO.

Laura Rosenberger, a senior official in former President Barack Obama’s National Security Council, said: “What’s particularly troubling about Secretary Tillerson’s statement is that we’ve seen no sense from the Trump administration of what their policy and approach toward North Korea is, and this is particularly troubling for both the importance of reassuring our allies in the region as well as to ensure that North Korea understands the degree to which this raises serious concerns in the United States.”

Over the weekend, Trump vowed that he would go it alone to constrain the North’s nuclear drive, if Beijing fails to weigh in.

"If China is not going to solve North Korea, we will," Trump told The Financial Times Sunday. “China will either decide to help us with North Korea or they won't. If they do, that will be very good for China, and if they don't, it won't be good for anyone."

But Trump did not elaborate on how he would disarm North Korea without China’s cooperation. A two-day summit between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to begin Thursday at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Florida estate. North Korea is likely to top the agenda.

Anthony Ruggiero, a North Korea expert in the use of targeted financial measures who spent more than 17 years in the U.S. government, said Trump’s North Korea policy could take a harder line than that of previous administrations by bringing broader “secondary sanctions on Chinese companies, banks and individuals that are complicit in North Korea’s sanctions evasion” using U.S. law.

Ruggiero, who is currently a senior fellow for the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, said the administration also could assist other countries to fully implement U.N. sanctions and increase military exercises, and deploy additional assets – whether they be more troops or more items -- in South Korea and Japan.

This report originated with the VOA Korean service.</s>Hong Kong (CNN) The United States' terse, 23-word response to the latest North Korean missile test is a stark departure from previous statements -- but is also unlikely to make much of a difference to North Korea's weapons program, according to experts.

The test, which sent a missile into the sea off North Korea's east coast Wednesday, occurred ahead of a hugely important meeting between the leaders of the US and China this week and has been described by one analyst as an insult from Pyongyang to US President Donald Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.

"It was an airborne middle finger to Trump and Xi before they sit down for their summit," said Euan Graham, director of the international security program at Australia's Lowy Institute.

The US response, delivered via Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, was short and sharp -- "The United States has spoken enough about North Korea". It was very different from previous lengthy, threat-laden responses

Secretary Tillerson: The United States has spoken enough about North Korea. We have no further comment. https://t.co/ccVPjWTWdX

And while Tillerson's taciturn comments were instantly criticized online , analysts said it was difficult to gauge if his approach would make much of a difference compared to his predecessors'.

Nick Bisley, director of La Trobe Asia, called it a mistake to assume North Korea is like "a spoiled child". He said the country has a fixed set of aims and ambitions, and want a nuclear weapon attached to a ballistic missile.

A press release "is not going to prompt them to fire off more missiles," he said.

Alexander Neill, a security expert at the International Institute for Strategic Studies Asia, said Pyongyang was not seeking a response with its recent test, but sending a message.

"This is more a sign of bravado," he said. "This is Kim Jong Un saying despite all the strictures placed on the North, they're still capable of carrying on their weapons programs immaterial of outside pressure."

Issuing responses to such displays may therefore be a loser's game no matter their content, said Graham.

"The likelihood is there are going to be tons of tests this year, so do you continue to put out pro forma statements for each one?"

Bisley said that while Trump has talked about being different on North Korea, Tillerson's statement is the first public sign that there might actually be some departure.

"But it's very hard to see how you break with Obama and Bush policy on North Korea without making things a lot more dangerous," he added.

What has changed is that there is now a great deal of confusion and speculation over tactics on both sides of the divide.

Graham, meanwhile, said North Korea and the US are mirroring each other's behavior at the moment.

"You have (Pyongyang) saying 'deal with it,' and another 'deal with it' in response."

Bisley said this tactic, if deliberate, compliments the broader idea Trump has about being unpredictable about foreign policy.

"If your opponents don't know what you'll do or where your limits are, then you're at a big advantage," he said.

This is usually something that has worked to Pyongyang's advantage; it remains to be seen how the North Koreans will react to a dose of their own medicine.</s>The response of America’s chief diplomat to North Korea’s latest missile launch was an abrupt departure from the usual — which may be a turning point, analysts in Asia say.

The statement from U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson totalled 23 words: “North Korea launched yet another intermediate range ballistic missile. The United States has spoken enough about North Korea. We have no further comment.”

While Tillerson’s statement was unusually short and vague, experts in South Korea and Japan saw it as a sign of consistency on how the United States under President Donald Trump will deal with North Korea as it speeds up its nuclear weapon and missile developments.

North Korea with its missile launches probably wants to create attention and use it as leverage for concessions, but Tillerson with his statement has sent a stern message that the United States won’t be a party to it, South Korean experts said.

“It seems Tillerson purposefully issued a short statement to send a tough signal,” said Kim Sung-han, a professor at Seoul’s Korea University and a former South Korean deputy foreign minister. “He is making it clear that, no matter what North Korea does, the United States won’t commit to direct negotiations unless Pyongyang shows real willingness for disarmament.”

Bong Youngshik, a researcher at Yonsei University’s Institute for North Korean Studies in Seoul, said Tillerson’s statement would have also been aimed at China ahead of President Xi Jinping’s first meeting with Trump later this week in Florida.

Trump is likely to urge China’s leader to take up stronger role in pressuring the North to abandon its nuclear ambitions, and Tillerson’s statement is a way of stressing it’s time for action on North Korea, not just talk, Bong said.

Tillerson also might stop making routine statements after every North Korean provocation or missile launch, Bong said.

“It is what it is,” Bong said. “There’s really no need for Tillerson to react every time when North Korea does something. The United States has moved on and is now trying to resolve problem through a larger scale, such as the summit with China shows.”

While Trump and his top policymakers continue their tough talk on the North Korean issue, it’s unclear such rhetoric would be enough to effectively influence North Korea and China, Pyongyang’s only major ally.

Every North Korean nuclear test and missile launch reminds the United States and its allies of the limited options they have on Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions.

A military strike on the North’s nuclear or missile facilities risks triggering a devastating war that could quickly kill hundreds of thousands. The effect of further sanctions is questionable as North Korea puts the survival of its ruling elite before the wellbeing of its struggling populace and already is one of the most heavily penalized places on earth. Renewing negotiations with Pyongyang would require trust that it won’t pocket aid and renege on any promises.

Tillerson in a visit to China last month declared an end to the Obama administration’s “strategic patience” policy to wait out Pyongyang until it caves and decides to denuclearize, but the Trump administration has yet to reveal any meaningfully different approach.

Narushige Michishita, an expert from Tokyo’s National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies, said Trump’s efforts to “sound scary” won’t work with Pyongyang and Beijing if he fails to back his words with action.

“The Trump administration’s credibility will be undermined if it fails,” he said.

 

 With files from Ken Moritsugu</s>(CNN) Ahead of the first meeting between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, North Korea fired a ballistic missile off the coast of the Korean Peninsula, US and South Korean officials said.

The missile -- which fell into the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, on Wednesday morning -- is one of several the country has test-fired in recent months.

Even before the missile test, North Korea's nuclear program was expected to be an important talking point between Xi and Trump.

The United States has been pushing China to put pressure on North Korea to stop its nuclear program and missile testing, but Trump said on Sunday the United States would be prepared to act alone to stop North Korea.

In his first five years as North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un has overseen more than double the number of missile tests than his father did during his 17-year rule, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies

A senior White House official on Tuesday said: " The clock has now run out, and all options are on the table," pointing to the failure of successive administrations' efforts to negotiate an end to the country's nuclear program.

JUST WATCHED Trump prepares for critical meeting with Xi Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH Trump prepares for critical meeting with Xi 02:58

Responses

The test elicited a terse response from the US State Department, unlike the standard diplomatic condemnations that usually follow Pyongyang's missile tests.

"North Korea launched yet another intermediate range ballistic missile. The United States has spoken enough about North Korea. We have no further comment," US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said in the statement.

Secretary Tillerson: The United States has spoken enough about North Korea. We have no further comment. https://t.co/ccVPjWTWdX — Department of State (@StateDept) April 5, 2017

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Hua Chunying said her country opposed any violations to UN Security Council resolutions, and urged the relevant parties to exercise restraint.

The test comes as South Korea, Japan and the US wrap up trilateral naval military drills off the Korean Peninsula.

South Korea's Unification Ministry spokesman, Lee Duk-Haeng, said the launch was a "threat against peace and stability." Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe condemned the launch and convened a meeting of the National Security Council.

The primary concern surrounding North Korea's weapons program is that Pyongyang could eventually equip long-range missiles with a nuclear warhead.

North Korea has conducted five nuclear tests -- including two last year -- but experts said the country still hasn't developed nuclear warheads that can be mounted onto missiles.

"Before the end of President Trump's current term, the North Koreans will probably be able to reach Seattle with an indigenously produced nuclear weapon aboard an indigenously produced intercontinental ballistic missile," Michael Hayden , who served as the director of the CIA between 2006 to 2009, said Tuesday while speaking at Johns Hopkins University.

Hayden went on to call North Korea the intelligence community's toughest target on the planet.

Sinpo shipyard

Both the US military command in Asia Pacific and South Korean officials said the projectile was a KN-15 medium-range ballistic missile. However, a senior US defense official later told CNN that the missile was actually an extended-range Scud missile.

The missile was launched Wednesday at 6:42 a.m. Seoul time from a site in the vicinity of Sinpo, South Hamgyong province, a South Korean Defense Ministry official said.

The North Koreans use Sinpo shipyard for their submarine activity, and US satellites have observed increased activity there in recent days, another US official said.

and flew as high as 189 kilometers (117 miles), South Korean officials said. It was believed to have flown a distance of around 60 kilometers (37 miles)and flew as high as 189 kilometers (117 miles), South Korean officials said. Cmdr. Dave Benham, spokesman for US Pacific Command, said it was tracked for nine minutes and did not pose a danger to North America.

Multiple defense officials told CNN that the nine-minute flight time for the missile was accurate, but, separately, an official with the Trump administration said the missile exploded approximately 55 seconds after launch.

It's unclear why the discrepancy exists.

US Pacific Command said it doesn't revise initial assessments if it's determined the missile doesn't pose a threat.

The initial launch details also raised questions with some experts. If the tracking time and distance are accurate, North Korea would have fired "the world's slowest missile," according to Melissa Hanham of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program.

"This test compared to the last one (in February) did not go as far or as high," she said. "They may have been trying to test one stage."

Fuel type

It's also unclear what type of fuel the missile used -- that's important because it determines how quickly North Korea can prepare it for launch.

The KN-15, which the North Koreans call the Pukguksong-2, is a medium-range ballistic missile and a land variant of the KN-11, a submarine-launched ballistic missile. US officials said it was launched from a mobile launcher, powered by solid fuel.

Solid fuel is like an explosive jelly, less corrosive than liquid fuel, and it can be more easily stored in the rocket's fuel tank than the liquid alternative, which requires specially lined tanks.

That makes them difficult for those monitoring North Korea's military movements to spot, as there are fewer indicators, such as movement of trucks, for South Korean or US satellites and other surveillance to detect.

"If this is the KN-15, North Korea is refining their solid fuel capabilities," says David Schmerler, a research associate at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. "It should be concerning everyone because it will be improving the chance to use their offensive capabilities better."

The US defense official who identified the missile as a Scud said the projectile used liquid fuel.

North Korea's liquid fuel-powered ballistic missiles typically require a garrison, fuel storage tanks and support vehicles to launch, which can be identified with imagery, experts say.

The missile launching system used to fire the Pukguksong-2 is shown in February in an image released by North Korean state media.

The use of a mobile launcher is concerning because it's harder to detect and preemptively strike, according to Carl Schuster, a professor at Hawaii Pacific University and former director of operations at the US Pacific Command's Joint Intelligence Center.

"It can roll out of a tunnel and launch on short notice," Schuster told CNN.
North Korea fires a medium-range ballistic missile about 60 kilometers (37 miles) into its eastern waters, in the direction of Japan according to United States and South Korean officials.