When U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson visited South Korea and Japan, he said that the U.S. is not backing out of the THAAD weapon deployment to South Korea. While in Beijing, Tillerson rejected the proposal again.
North Korea said that they will suspend missile tests if the U.S. and South Korea will stop their joint military exercises. The negotiations can start after showing signs of good faith, according to officials in Pyongyang.
"The policy of strategic patience has ended," Mr. Tillerson said in Seoul.
"We are exploring a new range of diplomatic, security, and economic measures. All options are on the table," he added.
While Obama was being strategically patient with North Korea, the socialist country was able to amass plutonium and highly enriched uranium to build 20 to 25 nuclear weapons.
North Korea ran another batch of tests last weekend. State media described the test as a "success and was seen as an event of historic significance that could lead to the new birth" of the country's indigenous rocket industry.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged Tillerson to use a cool-headed approach, but the American official said no.
Wu Riqiang, a nuclear expert at Renmin University in Beijing, said that China is losing patience with the U.S. It appears that former President Obama's approach to "strategic patience" is not the same with the approach of the current White House administration.
Current U.S. President Trump then slammed President Xi Jinping on a tweet and said that "China has done little to help" to resolve the nuclear crisis.
Chinese state media then released a commentary which stated, "Positive results require effort and good faith from both sides. China has never fallen short of offering its fair share."
The commentary said, "It's all up to Washington now."
At the conclusion of Tillerson's visit to China, President Xi Jinping said, "The China-U.S. relationship can only be defined by cooperation and friendship."