President Barack Obama said on Thursday the United States would work diplomatically to reduce tensions with North Korea, at the same time warning that Washington would take "all necessary steps" to protect America and its allies.
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President Barack Obama
"Now's the time for North Korea to end the kind of belligerent approach that they've been taking and to try to lower temperatures," Obama told reporters during a White House meeting with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. "Nobody wants to see a conflict on the Korean peninsula.
"We will continue to try to work to resolve some of those issues diplomatically even, as I indicated to the secretary-general, that the United States will take all necessary steps to protect its people and to meet our obligations under our alliances in the region," the president said.