Considering U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson have already visited Seoul in the early days of the Trump administration, South Korean officials say the new man in the White House is putting a lot of weight on the two countries' alliance and on solving the North Korea issue.
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence speaks during a dinner with soldiers and family members after Easter Sunday church services at a military base in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, April 16, 2017.
Vice President Mike Pence, who arrived in Seoul on Sunday, assailed the missile test as a "provocation" and assured South Korea of Washington's full support against the threat from its volatile neighbor.
At a major military parade to mark the "Day of the Sun" Saturday, Pyongyang showed off a bevy of new missiles and launchers. Instead, North Korea failed with its missile launch.
A White House foreign policy adviser on board immediately tried to downplay the significance, making clear it wasn't a matter of if, but when, the North Koreans would try to flex their military might again.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have ratcheted up in recent weeks, amid tit-for-tat saber-rattling from the U.S. and North Korea.
USA officials say the Trump administration's emphasis will be on increasing pressure on Pyongyang with the help of China.
U.S. officials told CNN they did not believe the missile had intercontinental capabilities, and blew up nearly immediately after launch. But the president is unafraid to order "kinetic" military action, including a sudden strike, to counteract North Korea's destabilizing actions in the region, said the person, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private.
North Korea's last missile test before this was on April 5, a sign of rising tensions in the area.
George Friedman, founder of Geopolitical Futures, said recent demonstrations by North Korea that it is closer than expected to a deliverable nuclear weapon effectively put Kim in a bind - if he risks losing that capacity imminently.
Pence, who has called the North's failed missile test a day earlier "a provocation", said the US and its allies will achieve its objectives through "peaceable means or ultimately by whatever means are necessary" to protect South Korea and stabilize the region.
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The test failed when the missile prematurely detonated. The U.S. military has about 28,500 troops stationed in South Korea.
The American aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson and its support vessels are now approaching the Korean peninsula.
Pence is the son of a Korean War veteran and displays his late father's Bronze Star in his office.
Despite North Korea's provocations, US officials have said that the USA doesn't intend to use military force against North Korea in response to either a nuclear test or a missile launch.
The US vice president said Washington and its allies will achieve its objectives through "peaceable means or ultimately by whatever means are necessary" to protect South Korea and stabilise the region.
China is insisting on a peaceful resolution for fear that its border would be pierced by hundreds of thousands of refugees from North Korea if the Kim Jung-un regime collapsed.
McMaster was speaking hours after United States and South Korean defense officials told CNN that an attempted missile launch by North Korea failed. His visit came a day after North Korea held a military parade in its capital, Pyongyang, marking the 105th anniversary of the birth of founding father Kim Il Sung. This matters because while North Korea regularly launches short-range missiles, it is also developing mid-range and long-range missiles meant to target US troops in Asia and, eventually, the USA mainland.
During the stops in South Korea and Japan, Pence will attempt to reassure American allies that the United States will be ready to defend them against potential North Korean aggression, officials said.
While the North did not conduct a nuclear test, the spectre of a potential escalated U.S. response accompanied Mr Pence as he began a 10-day trip to Asia.
The vice president reiterated Monday that "all options are on the table" to deal with the threat posed by North Korea.
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