Here's what Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, aka the nation's top diplomat, had to say about the latest provocation from North Korea:

"North Korea launched yet another intermediate range ballistic missile. The United States has spoken enough about North Korea. We have no further comment."

That's a total of 23 words, if you're counting. Twenty-three words that leave you more confused when you get to the end of them than when you started. Is Tillerson trying to talk tough? Or is he refusing to give North Korea the attention he thinks they're trying to grab in advance of the US-China meeting? Somewhere in between? Neither? Both?

The statement reads, to channel Winston Churchill, like a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. It's Ernest Hemingway but for complicated and delicate matters of foreign policy. It's, in a (hyphenated) word, a head-scratcher.

What we do know is that the Trump administration is taking an increasingly hard line to both North Korea's ongoing efforts to develop nuclear and ballistic weapons programs and China's willingness to constrain those efforts. "The clock has now run out, and all options are on the table," a senior White House official told reporters Tuesday night in a briefing with reporters ahead of Xi's visit. That sentiment echoes the President himself, who told the Financial Times in an interview that he was prepared to act to curb North Korea's nuclear ambitions with or without China. "China has great influence over North Korea," Trump said in the interview. "And China will either decide to help us with North Korea, or they won't ... If China is not going to solve North Korea, we will. That is all I am telling you." Viewed through that lens, Tilllerson's statement may be best understood as a sort of "the time for talking is over, the time for action is here" sentiment that is in keeping with the tough talk coming from Trump. But, Tillerson is the country's top diplomat -- the person charged with finding solutions that go beyond simple rhetoric to these thorniest of foreign policy challenges. And his statement -- such as it is -- offers zero guidance as to what the US response will be. Pyongyang wants Washington's acceptance as a nuclear power -- and to be dismissed in this way will be a blow, noted CNN's Paula Hancocks in Seoul. And two senior US officials tell CNN's Barbara Starr that the message shouldn't be interpreted as provocative. Instead, they say, it's a signal the State Department will no longer put out routine statements after every North Korean provocation or missile launch. But vagueness in diplomacy is a dangerous thing. Words matter. Misunderstandings can cause international incidents -- or worse. How will North Korea and China interpret Tillerson's comments? As a provocation? A dismissal? Something else entirely? That uncertainty is the point. Tillerson is the leading edge of America foreign policy. As such, his most important job is to ensure that other countries know exactly where the U.S. stands when a major international event -- like the on in North Korea -- occurs. His statement Tuesday night suggests he simply doesn't grasp just how much words matter.</s>"North Korea launched yet another intermediate range ballistic missile. The United States has spoken enough about North Korea. We have no further comment."

 That's a total of 23 words, if you're counting. Twenty-three words that leave you more confused when you get to the end of them than when you started. Is Tillerson trying to talk tough? Or is he refusing to give North Korea the attention he thinks they're trying to grab in advance of the US-China meeting? Somewhere in between? Neither? Both?</s>Story highlights North Korea fired a ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea

The US response was a total of 23 words

(CNN) North Korea has fired a ballistic missile into the sea off the Korean Peninsula, the latest in a series of test firings and one that comes just days before President Donald Trump is set to huddle with Chinese President Xi Jinping for a two-day summit in Florida.

Here's what Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, aka the nation's top diplomat, had to say about the latest provocation from North Korea:

"North Korea launched yet another intermediate range ballistic missile. The United States has spoken enough about North Korea. We have no further comment."

That's a total of 23 words, if you're counting. Twenty-three words that leave you more confused when you get to the end of them than when you started. Is Tillerson trying to talk tough? Or is he refusing to give North Korea the attention he thinks they're trying to grab in advance of the US-China meeting? Somewhere in between? Neither? Both?</s>North Korea has fired a ballistic missile into the sea off the Korean Peninsula, the latest in a series of test firings and one that comes just days before President Donald Trump is set to huddle with Chinese President Xi Jinping for a two-day summit in Florida.

Here’s what Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, aka the nation’s top diplomat, had to say about the latest provocation from North Korea:

“North Korea launched yet another intermediate range ballistic missile. The United States has spoken enough about North Korea. We have no further comment.”

That’s a total of 23 words, if you’re counting. Twenty-three words that leave you more confused when you get to the end of them than when you started. Is Tillerson trying to talk tough? Or is he refusing to give North Korea the attention he thinks they’re trying to grab in advance of the US-China meeting? Somewhere in between? Neither? Both?

The statement reads, to channel Winston Churchill, like a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. It’s Ernest Hemingway but for complicated and delicate matters of foreign policy. It’s, in a (hyphenated) word, a head-scratcher.

What we do know is that the Trump administration is taking an increasingly hard line to both North Korea’s ongoing efforts to develop nuclear and ballistic weapons programs and China’s willingness to constrain those efforts.

“The clock has now run out, and all options are on the table,” a senior White House official told reporters Tuesday night in a briefing with reporters ahead of Xi’s visit.

That sentiment echoes the President himself, who told the Financial Times in an interview that he was prepared to act to curb North Korea’s nuclear ambitions with or without China.

“China has great influence over North Korea,” Trump said in the interview. “And China will either decide to help us with North Korea, or they won’t … If China is not going to solve North Korea, we will. That is all I am telling you.”

Viewed through that lens, Tillerson’s statement may be best understood as a sort of “the time for talking is over, the time for action is here” sentiment that is in keeping with the tough talk coming from Trump.

But, Tillerson is the country’s top diplomat — the person charged with finding solutions that go beyond simple rhetoric to these thorniest of foreign policy challenges. And his statement — such as it is — offers zero guidance as to what the US response will be.

Pyongyang wants Washington’s acceptance as a nuclear power — and to be dismissed in this way will be a blow, noted CNN’s Paula Hancocks in Seoul.

And two senior US officials tell CNN’s Barbara Starr that the message shouldn’t be interpreted as provocative. Instead, they say, it’s a signal the State Department will no longer put out routine statements after every North Korean provocation or missile launch.

But vagueness in diplomacy is a dangerous thing. Words matter. Misunderstandings can cause international incidents — or worse.

How will North Korea and China interpret Tillerson’s comments? As a provocation? A dismissal? Something else entirely?

That uncertainty is the point. Tillerson is the leading edge of America foreign policy. As such, his most important job is to ensure that other countries know exactly where the US stands when a major international event — like the one in North Korea — occurs. His statement Tuesday night suggests he simply doesn’t grasp just how much words matter.</s>US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will make his first visit to the United Nations later this month to chair a UN Security Council meeting on North Korea.

[UNITED NATIONS] US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will make his first visit to the United Nations later this month to chair a UN Security Council meeting on North Korea.

The April 28 meeting on non-proliferation and North Korea will be "timely" following a US-China summit this week, US Ambassador Nikki Haley told reporters Monday.

The United States holds the presidency of the Security Council in April, giving President Donald Trump's administration an opportunity to showcase its foreign policy priorities.

Mr Trump will hold his first summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Florida this week, with North Korea shaping up as a key priority for the US administration.

Washington has complained loudly that China is not taking action to rein in North Korea, which last year carried out two nuclear tests and more than 20 ballistic missile tests.

"The United States has seen China for 25-plus years say they are concerned about North Korea, but we haven't seen them act like they are concerned about North Korea," Ms Haley said.

"I think this administration wants to see them act and I think they are going to pressure them to do that."

Ms Haley described the US-China summit as "very, very important" to address the crisis over North Korea and that China had a key role to play to force Pyongyang to change course.

"The only one that North Korea is going to respond to is China," said Ms Haley.

Mr Tillerson's recent Asia tour focused on addressing the threat from North Korea's nuclear and ballistic programmes.

While at the United Nations, Mr Tillerson may meet with UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres, who has been concerned about US moves to cut funding to the world body.

A UN spokesman said there were discussions on arranging the first face-to-face talks between the UN chief and Mr Tillerson, but that nothing had been scheduled yet.</s>U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says "the United States has spoken enough about North Korea" in reaction to North Korea's latest missile launch. The State Department issued a terse statement from America's top diplomat acknowledging "yet another" launch and saying "We have no further comment."

Start the conversation, or Read more at The Republic.</s>Here's what Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, aka the nation's top diplomat, had to say about the latest provocation from North Korea:

"North Korea launched yet another intermediate range ballistic missile. The United States has spoken enough about North Korea. We have no further comment."

That's a total of 23 words, if you're counting. Twenty-three words that leave you more confused when you get to the end of them than when you started. Is Tillerson trying to talk tough? Or is he refusing to give North Korea the attention he thinks they're trying to grab in advance of the US-China meeting? Somewhere in between? Neither? Both?

The statement reads, to channel Winston Churchill, like a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. It's Ernest Hemingway but for complicated and delicate matters of foreign policy. It's, in a (hyphenated) word, a head-scratcher.

What we do know is that the Trump administration is taking an increasingly hard line to both North Korea's ongoing efforts to develop nuclear and ballistic weapons programs and China's willingness to constrain those efforts. "The clock has now run out, and all options are on the table," a senior White House official told reporters Tuesday night in a briefing with reporters ahead of Xi's visit. That sentiment echoes the President himself, who told the Financial Times in an interview that he was prepared to act to curb North Korea's nuclear ambitions with or without China. "China has great influence over North Korea," Trump said in the interview. "And China will either decide to help us with North Korea, or they won't ... If China is not going to solve North Korea, we will. That is all I am telling you." Viewed through that lens, Tilllerson's statement may be best understood as a sort of "the time for talking is over, the time for action is here" sentiment that is in keeping with the tough talk coming from Trump. But, Tillerson is the country's top diplomat -- the person charged with finding solutions that go beyond simple rhetoric to these thorniest of foreign policy challenges. And his statement -- such as it is -- offers zero guidance as to what the US response will be. Pyongyang wants Washington's acceptance as a nuclear power -- and to be dismissed in this way will be a blow, noted CNN's Paula Hancocks in Seoul. And two senior US officials tell CNN's Barbara Starr that the message shouldn't be interpreted as provocative. Instead, they say, it's a signal the State Department will no longer put out routine statements after every North Korean provocation or missile launch. But vagueness in diplomacy is a dangerous thing. Words matter. Misunderstandings can cause international incidents -- or worse. How will North Korea and China interpret Tillerson's comments? As a provocation? A dismissal? Something else entirely? That uncertainty is the point. Tillerson is the leading edge of America foreign policy. As such, his most important job is to ensure that other countries know exactly where the U.S. stands when a major international event -- like the on in North Korea -- occurs. His statement Tuesday night suggests he simply doesn't grasp just how much words matter.</s>Nobody seems to know what Secretary of State Rex Tillerson meant in his 23-word response to North Korea's missile launch Wednesday.

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

North Korea's latest test — which came just days before President Donald Trump was to meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping — launched the ballistic missile about 40 miles into the waters between the Koreas and Japan from the North Korean port city of Sinpo.

The test appeared to be of a KN-15 medium-range ballistic missile, which North Korea also tested in February. The country had a failed test-launch in late March, but earlier in the month had fired four missiles toward Japan, the closest coming 190 miles from the coast, Reuters reported.

Wednesday's launch — which violated a United Nations Security Council ban — was met with condemnation from South Korean and Japanese leaders.

But Tillerson's brief, cryptic statement made the U.S. response to the missile-test unclear.

"I've read a lot of rote reaction statements," tweeted New York Times national security correspondent David Sanger, " but rarely one like this. Could be: We're coming for you. Could be: Forget the whole thing."

That uncertainty, CNN's Chris Cillizza noted, can be dangerous.

"Words matter," Cillizza wrote. "Misunderstandings can cause international incidents — or worse."

"Tillerson is the leading edge of America foreign policy," Cillizza continued. "As such, his most important job is to ensure that other countries know exactly where the U.S. stands when a major international event — like the one in North Korea — occurs."

Trump, for his part, has been talking tough on North Korea ahead of his meeting with the Chinese president at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.

A White House official suggested recently that the administration may be considering a military response to North Korea's missile-testing, and Trump has been critical of China for doing, as he Tweeted in March, "little to help."

"North Korea is behaving very badly," Trump tweeted. "They have been 'playing' the United States for years. China has done little to help!"

"Well, if China is not going to solve North Korea, we will," Trump told the Financial Times over the weekend. "That is all I am telling you."

It's possible, based on Trump's rhetoric, that Tillerson's ambiguous response to Wednesday's test launch indicated that the U.S. will follow up on its tough talk. But it's difficult to know for sure from his cursory statement.

"It's the strangest thing I've ever seen from State," BBC White House reporter Tar McKelvey wrote on Twitter. "Maybe they were trying to be funny (a really bad idea for government officials."</s>UNITED NATIONS (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is coming to the United Nations for the first time later this month to chair a ministerial meeting of the Security Council on reining in North Korea's nuclear program, a top priority of the Trump administration.

U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley made the announcement Monday, saying the April 28 meeting will be an important follow-up to this weekend's talks between President Donald Trump and China's President Xi Jinping at the U.S. leader's resort in Palm Beach, Florida.

Trump said ahead of the meeting that China has great influence over North Korea and he wants Xi to help the U.S. denuclearize the reclusive northeast Asian nation. If the Chinese leader won't, Trump said he can handle the problem without Beijing.

Haley, the Security Council president this month, said the focus of the April 28 meeting will depend a lot on the outcome of the Xi-Trump talks.

"The United States has seen China for 25 plus years say that they're concerned about North Korea but we haven't seen them act like they're concerned about North Korea," she said. "This administration wants to see them act, and I think they're going to pressure them to do that."

"We all hope ... that we see some real partnership and working together," Haley said.

Tensions have escalated over North Korean moves to accelerate its weapons development. The North conducted two nuclear tests and 24 ballistic missile tests last year, defying six Security Council sanctions resolutions banning any testing. This has deepened concern in Washington that Pyongyang could soon develop a nuclear-armed missile capable of reaching the U.S. mainland.

China has supported the six sanctions resolution but Haley said it needs to fully implement the sanctions — as do other U.N. member states.

China is North Korea's most important source of diplomatic support and economic assistance, accounting for about 90 percent of the North's trade and supplying fuel and many of other necessities. But Beijing says its leverage over North Korea is limited.

In February, it did suspend imports of North Korean coal for the rest of the year, depriving Kim Jong Un's regime of a crucial source of foreign currency, though comments from Haley last week indicated that Beijing is allowing imports in other ways.

Haley said "there is will in the Security Council" to deal with North Korea's nuclear program but members need to discuss "how do we push that forward."

"We hope that we get as many foreign ministers to come as possible" to the April 28 meeting, "because North Korea is an issue, it's a threat," Haley said.

"On any given day we're waiting on another ballistic missile test," she said, "and I think that our goal is to say, what do we have to do to stop them?"</s>US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will chair a United Nations Security Council meeting on North Korea on April 28 to discuss how the body can combat Pyongyang’s banned nuclear and missile programs, US Ambassador Nikki Haley said on Monday. North Korea has been under UN sanctions aimed at impeding the development of its nuclear and missile programs since 2006. The 15-member council has strengthened sanctions following each of North Korea’s five nuclear tests.

“We do need to talk about it in terms of what are we as a council are going to do to deal with North Korea and how do we push that forward. So we hope that we get as many foreign ministers to come as possible,” Haley told a news conference to mark Washington’s presidency of the Security Council for April. Chinese President Xi Jinping is due to visit President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida this week.

“The United States has seen China for 25-plus years say that they are concerned about North Korea, but we haven’t seen them act like they’re concerned about North Korea. This administration wants to see them act,” Haley said.

Last month, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said after talks in Beijing with Tillerson that the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue is between the United States and North Korea. There had to be a commitment to using diplomatic means to peacefully settle the North Korea issue, Wang said. A US think tank reported last month that satellite imagery of North Korea’s main nuclear test site indicates that Pyongyang could be in the final stages of preparations for a sixth nuclear test.

Also last month, North Korea state media said the country had conducted a test of a high-thrust engine that would help achieve world-class satellite launch capability, indicating the test was of a new type of rocket engine for long-range missiles. Trump’s top national security aides have completed a broad review of US options aimed at countering North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, a senior US official said on Sunday.

The review includes economic and military measures but leans towards new sanctions and increased pressure on Beijing to rein in its neighbor and ally, the official said.

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United States Secretary of State Rex Tillerson issues a statement saying "The United States has spoken enough about North Korea. We have no further comment."