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US Vice President Mike Pence

US Vice President Mike Pence said the US will continue to apply pressure to North Korea until it gives up its nuclear and missile programs.

“As I expressed on the President’s behalf on my trip to the Asian Pacific [in April], under this administration, the United States will continue to work diligently with our allies across the region and China and the wider world to bring increased economic and diplomatic pressure to bear on North Korea,” Pence said in a keynote address at a discussion on June 22 at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington.

“And we will do so until North Korea abandons its nuclear and ballistic missile programs once and for all,” he added.

Pence went on echo statements from his Asia-Pacific visit, saying Washington‘s “primary focus [is] on the greatest threat to security in the Asian Pacific -- the brutal regime in North Korea.”

“And my message [during the trip] was very straightforward: When it comes to North Korea, under this administration, the era of strategic patience is over,” he continued.

Pence also addressed the death of Otto Warmbier, an American who passed away shortly after being returned from a 17-month detention in North Korea.

“North Korea’s treatment of Otto Warmbier was a disgrace,” Pence said.

“And I can assure you it only deepens our determination to prevent such tragedies from befalling innocent people in the days ahead,” he added.

By Yi Yong-in, Washington correspondent

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