Pence: China Could Do More on North Korea

China is now doing more than it ever did before when dealing with North Korea, and President Donald Trump deserves the credit for that, but at the same time, China could be doing even more, Vice President Mike Pence said Monday.

"You have a president in President Trump who is engaging directly with the president of China, and we are seeing China do more than they have done before," Pence told the "CBS This Morning" program. "The key here is for the United States and our allies in the region, working with China, to provide the diplomatic and economic pressure that will result in the regime in Pyongyang ending permanently their nuclear ballistic missile ambitions."

North Korea, he continued, represents the "most serious security threat in the world," said Pence, who traveled to South Korea last month to reaffirm the United States' commitment to South Korea and Japan.

"For me, it was a chilling experience to look into a nation living under the kind of oppressive regime that the Kim family means," said Pence, speaking of North Korean President Kim Jong-un.

The United States is seeking a peaceful solution, said Pence, but the message Trump is sending through him and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is that the "era of strategic patience is over."

"For more than a quarter of a century, the United States has in one way or another negotiated, had talks, waited patiently all the while," said Pence. "We've seen the regime and its headlong pursuit of weapons and the ballistic missile program."

There has already been world of China turning back coal shipments in North Korea, continued Pence, and of reducing commercial travel with North Korea.

"But as the secretary of state said at the United Nations last week, China needs to do more," said Pence. "We're calling on our allies in the region to reconsider their diplomatic relations with North Korea. We're calling on allies in the region to reconsider their worker program."

The key, he continued, is for the United States and its allies in the region to work with China "to provide the kind of economic and diplomatic pressure that will result in the regime and Pyongyang ending permanently their nuclear and ballistic missiles."

Through his actions in Syria and Afghanistan, Pence continued, the president "has in a very real way restored the credibility of American power ... we are prepared to defend our allies and defend ourselves, but we're going to drive toward a peaceful solution."

It's not clear, though, what North Korea wants in return, said Pence.

"We continue to see one provocation after another," the vice president commented. "This weekend began with another failed missile launch from North Korea, even while the world community was discussing the issue with the U.N. Security Council."

North Korea does know, through past U.N. actions, that it needs to abandon its nuclear and ballistic missile programs and to "stand down in a very real sense," said Pence.

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