Nuclear weapons won’t bring security for North Korea: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson speaks during a UN Security Council meeting concerning nuclear non-proliferation, during the United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters, September 21, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by AFP)

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has said nuclear weapons will not bring security for North Korea's government, amid an escalating war of words between officials from the two countries.  

"North Korea may assume that nuclear weapons will ensure the survival of its regime. In truth, nuclear weapons are clearly only leading to greater isolation, ignominy and deprivation," Tillerson said on Thursday at the UN Security Council.

He stated that China's assistance is vital to roll back Pyongyang's nuclear and missile programs.

"If China truly desires to denuclearize the Korean peninsula to promote stability and to avoid conflict in that sensitive region right on its own border, now's the time to work with the rest of us ... to put the kind of pressure on North Korea that can change its strategic calculations before it’s too late," he added.

In a speech to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, President Donald Trump warned North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that the United States, if threatened, would “totally destroy” his country of 26 million people.

In response, Kim said Trump will “pay dearly” for threatening to destroy North Korea.

Kim said that Trump is "a rogue and a gangster fond of playing with fire," who is "unfit to hold the prerogative of supreme command of a country."

This undated picture released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on September 16, 2017 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspecting a launching drill of the medium-and-long range strategic ballistic rocket Hwasong-12 at an undisclosed location. (Via AFP)

The North Korean leader ordered the production of more rocket warheads and engines last month, shortly after the United States suggested that its threats of military action and sanctions were having an impact on Pyongyang’s behavior.

Pyongyang says it will not give up on its nuclear deterrence unless Washington ends its hostile policy toward the country and dissolves the US-led UN command in South Korea. Thousands of US soldiers are stationed in South Korea and Japan.