Tillerson makes 1st Asia trip as anxiety rises over NKorea

TOKYO (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson today began a three-nation tour of Asia where anxiety is rising over North Korea's nuclear and missile programs, along with questions over how the Trump administration will tackle one of its sternest national security challenges.

Tillerson flew to his first stop in Japan as the U.S., Japanese and South Korea navies conducted missile defense information-sharing drills in the region. Uncertainty remains, however, over how the U.S. administration intends to pressure or persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons that also pose an emerging threat to the United States itself.

Tillerson is to meet with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida on Thursday. He will also travel to South Korea, which is gripped by domestic political turmoil after the ouster of its president, and then to China, which is conflicted about how to treat North Korea, its traditional ally, for fear of triggering its collapse.

Adding to the combustible mix of military tension and the region's historic rivalries is another factor – confusion about U.S. foreign policy under the Trump administration.

The former Exxon Mobil CEO has adopted a low profile during his six weeks as secretary of state. The State Department Correspondents' Association expressed disappointment today that Tillerson was traveling to Asia without a full contingent of the diplomatic press corps or even a pool reporter on his plane — although he did take a reporter from the conservative-leaning website the Independent Journal Review.

President Donald Trump's rise to power has raised anxiety in Asian capitals. During last year's election campaign, Trump asked whether allies like Japan and South Korea contribute enough for their own defense or should get their own nuclear weapons. He also questioned the fundamentals of four decades of U.S. diplomacy with China.