country and the u.s. spoke on the phone, reaffirming their commitment to work together. and that the u.s. would talk to seoul first before launching an atalk. to tokyo, nbc s matt bradley covering the reaction in gentleman pap and china. matt, what s the latest? reporter: this region is no strange toe the bellicose language but wu normally it comes from north korea. but in china we heard from state news media saying in there were an attack by the united states against north korea, that the chinese government would intervene on behalf of their allies in pyongyang, the north koreans. however if the north koreans were to strike first, chinese media saying they would remain neutral. that s a troubling note from beijing, a capital that donald trump has had trouble with. but meanwhile here in japan, the
korea, not just this threat that a military option could be on the table but close work in the region with tokyo, talks with china about how to further isolate and pressure north korea to the point of denuclearization, that is the goal, it is the objective 100% as vice president mike pence put it today. prime minister shinzo abe saying they value the fact that washington is looking at all options to counter this threat. alexander field, live from tokyo, thanks very much. the vice president to tokyo comes the day after he set off a round of north korean saber rattling by warning that pyongyang should not test president trump s resolve. in response monday, the ambassador to the u.n. told a hastily arranged news conference that it s the u.s. that has created quote a dangerous situation in which thermoand nuclear war may break out at any moment, joining us live from seoul, paula hancock with the very latest.
support for the work these men and women do here. but the high-level conversationconversations will be happening over the next few days when he sees south korea s acting president and when he goes on to tokyo, where he ll meet with the japanese prime minister. that s when these top-level officials will be talking about how to proceed when it comes to dealing with the nuclear threat posed by north korea. as will pointed out, it s everyone s belief that north korea is ready and capable of carrying out a sixth nuclear test. the question the u.s. and its allies needs to talk about is what the response to that will be. all right. alex field live from south korea. matt rivers live from beijing. and will ripley live from the north korean capital. i want to thank you for your excellent reporting. our fine three correspondents there. now for analysis of north korea s nuclear and missile ambitions, we re joined now by a senior fellow at the center for defense studies at kings college in london
vice president making this trip here during tense times. this was a preplanned trip, of course. but it does speak to the seriousness, with which the trump administration regards the situation right here on the peninsula and their commitment to working with allies in the region to chart a course forward. this is a third visit of a high-level trump administration official. first, you have the secretary of defense to reassure allies in the region, like south korea and japan that the alliances are strong and the u.s. s commitment remains in place. and you have the secretary of state coming out here that says years to control the problem with north korea has failed. you have the vice president coming here with stops in seoul and tokyo, what the force is and how you counter the threats. these conversations won t be a direct reflection of what we saw happening this morning, the failed missile launch. that s something that washington is playing down, with every respect. they are feeling out of
president pence with a visit to the cemetery, the national cemetery here to honor those who fought. he then came here to meet with troops, but it gets serious after this point. he goes on to meet with the acting president of the south korea. from here, he ll go on to tokyo, where he ll meet with the prime minister. they ll be tackling head on the question about what to do to counter the growing north korean nuclear threat. you have another provocation again from north korea this morning, that failed missile launch. what they re really talking about now is a wider view, the long-term strategy, the secretary of state from the u.s. had been out here last month announce that the era of strategic patience was over. so what s the response now? what role will the u.s. take? those are all questions the vice president will talking about as he continues his tour through asia, ivan. and alex, this isn t just a time of regional tension. it s also a time of deep uncertainty in south korea, this c