US deputy says he’s out of patience with North Korea

Trump government number two has hinted that the military route is a possibility if Pyongyang does not give way

US Vice President Mike Pence on Monday visited the demilitarized zone (DMZ) that separates the two Koreas, at a time of maximum tension with the North because of repeated gun tests.

A few feet from the border with North Korea , Pence again stressed the importance of the alliance of Washington and Seoul and the “determination of the people and the American president” to resolve the situation “through peaceful means through negotiations.”

Nevertheless, the number two government Trump reminded that the “strategic patience” of the United States is running out and that “all options are on the table” to achieve the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula in a new suggestion that military means Is a possibility if Pyongyang does not give in.

Pence was taken from central Seoul (about 50km south of the DMZ) in a Blackhawk military helicopter to landing at Camp Bonifas, named after one of two US soldiers killed by North Korean troops in an incident In the demilitarized zone in 1976.

Hours before Pence arrived in the area on Sunday, North Korea tried unsuccessfully to launch a ballistic missile that exploded after being fired at what is another test of weapons of the Pyongyang regime last year.