The Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Hon Julie Bishop MP, rejected comments made by the President of the United States that negotiations with rogue North Korean despot Kim Jong-un were a “waste of time”. The President had earlier tweeted “I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man”

Attending the In The Zone conference, hosted by the USAsia Centre, the Foreign Minister told the press “I believe President Trump is referring to the fact that North Korea has failed to live up to any of the agreements that have been negotiated in the past. However that shouldn’t mean we should stop trying and I believe that Secretary Tillerson is seeking to find a resolution to the current crisis on the Korean Peninsula”.

Speaking to the press at the same event, the Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator the Hon Penny Wong, said “conflict needs to be avoided if at all possible and I think it is correct that Julie Bishop is talking at length about sanctions, about economic pressure, about diplomatic and political pressure”.