3rd LD Writethru: U.S. VP says strategic patience over on DPRK

Visiting U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said Monday that "an era of strategic patience is over" on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).

Pence made the remarks during a joint press conference with South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn who is serving as acting president. They held talks in Seoul before the televised press conference.

Since 1992, Pence said, the United States and South Korea made joint efforts to achieve the denuclearized Korean Peninsula through peaceful means.

The U.S. vice president, however, said "all options are on the table" though the U.S. wants peaceful means for the denuclearization of the peninsula.

Citing two nuclear tests and multiple ballistic missile test-launches the DPRK conducted in the past 18 months, he said the era of strategic patience is over on the DPRK.

The strategic patience refers to a U.S. policy on the DPRK advocated by the previous Obama administration.

Pyongyang carried out its fourth and fifth nuclear detonations in January and September last year respectively. After the January atomic bomb test, the country launched a long-range rocket that put a satellite into orbit.

The rocket launch is seen by South Korea and the U.S. as a disguised test of a banned ballistic missile technology. The DPRK is banned from testing such technology under UN Security Council resolutions.

Shortly before Pence's arrival in South Korea, the DPRK test-launched an unidentified missile from its east coast. It exploded seconds after the launch, which was assessed by the South Korean military as a failed test.

The failed show of force by the DPRK came amid rising tensions on the peninsula, which were caused by the rare re-routing of a U.S. aircraft carrier toward the West Pacific.

The USS Carl Vinson aircraft super-carrier and its accompanying warships were approaching the peninsula. It was rare as the battleships participated in the ongoing U.S.-South Korea annual military exercises last month.

The U.S. vice president reassured its ally that the U.S. will "100 percent" stand with South Korea for secure future, saying the alliance between the two countries is a linchpin for peace and security in the peninsula and the Asia-Pacific region.

He issued a warning against the DPRK, saying Pyongyang should not mistake the resolve of U.S. President Donald Trump and the power of the U.S. forces stationed here by conducting another provocations.

About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed on the peninsula, a legacy of the 1950-1953 Korean War that ended in armistice. The two Koreas are technically in a state of war.

Touching on the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system in South Korea, Pence said his country will continue to deploy the U.S. missile shield for the U.S.-South Korea alliance.

Seoul and Washington agreed in July last year to install one THAAD battery in southeastern South Korea. Two mobile launchers and other elements of THAAD were delivered last month to a U.S. military base in South Korea.

Pence described the THAAD deployment as a "defensive" measure, but it caused strong oppositions from regional countries, including China and Russia, as it breaks strategic balance in the region and damages security interests of the two countries.

More missile shields in the region bring more nuclear missiles that can break through the shields, boosting arms race and escalating tensions.

Pence arrived in South Korea on Sunday as part of his 10-day trip to Asia. Earlier in the day, he visited a U.S. base near the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas. He will leave for Japan on Tuesday. Enditem