After two decades of failed negotiations to ease the tension between North Korea and the United States, the country's Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson, has now proposed a new approach.

During his speech in Tokyo, before his departure for meetings in Beijing and Seoul, Tillerson explained that all of the efforts by the United States and its allies to diffuse the rising tension with North Korea have all but failed. Unfortunately, no details about their exact plans were outlined.

Tillerson is set to meet with several Chinese leaders to discuss their plans to halt the rising tension and prevent any further escalation. The Chinese, via its director general of the Asian Affairs Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Xiao Qian, previously explained to CNN that they had hoped for the United States to make the first move as an example to North Korea.

"(North Korea) would like to see the Americans move first and take some actions first to show their sincerity, and vice versa," Xiao Qian had mentioned in the interview.

However, Qian then explained that this plan has not really worked out in the past few decades, which is why they are proposing that both countries halt their activities simultaneously. According to Discover USA, the plan echoes a previous proposal by Foreign Minister Wang Yi, which was outright rejected by the US State Department just last week.

"There's no equivalence between North Korea's illegal missile and nuclear activities and what is our lawful, longstanding joint security exercises with our allies in the region," the State Department had expressed in its response to Wang's proposal.

North Korea's chargé d'affaires at the North Korean embassy in Beijing, Pak Myong Mo, also expressed a similar sentiment and mentioned that they will not halt in strengthening their defense and preemptive strike capabilities if the United States and its allies continue their military drills in the Pacific. The drills are seen by his country as an act of intimidation and a threat at their doorsteps.

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