U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson speaks during a joint press conference with visiting Japanese officials following their meeting at the State Department in Washington D.C., the United States, on Aug. 17, 2017. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson reaffirmed on Thursday that diplomatic effort was "first and foremost" choice in solving the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue. (Xinhua file photo/Yin Bogu)
WASHINGTON, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said on Sunday that the United States will continue to seek a peaceful solution to the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue despite the recent missile launching by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
"The firing of any ballistic missile is a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions and we do view it as a provocative act, a provocative act against the United States and our allies," said Tillerson on Fox News.
"We are going to continue our peaceful pressure campaign as I have described that working with allies, working with China as well, to see if we can bring the regime in Pyongyang to the negotiating table," Tillerson added.
The U.S. Pacific Command confirmed on Friday that the DPRK launched three missiles on Saturday morning local time, but none of them had posed a threat.
The latest missile launch came as the United States and South Korea were conducting their joint annual drills, which Pyongyang deemed as a provocation.
The missile launch also came days after Tillerson said that he was pleased with the DPRK's restraint in recent weeks.
On Sunday, Tillerson said he didn't think he was wrong about his remarks.
"I don't know that we're wrong," said Tillerson. "I think it's going to take some time to tell. This type of launch again, it is a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions. So, it is -- clearly, they are still messaging us as well, that they are not prepared to completely back away from their position."
