--- title: North Korea: Rext Tillerson Says No 'Imminent Threat' description: Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that there is not "any imminent threat" from North Korea, sending a message of reassurance canonical: https://time.com/4892949/rex-tillerson-donald-trump-north-korea-threat/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-09T12:12:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T16:54:52.250Z article:section: Politics og:title: Rex Tillerson: ‘Americans Should Sleep Well at Night' Despite North Korea Threat og:description: He said there isn't an imminent threat og:url: https://time.com/4892949/rex-tillerson-donald-trump-north-korea-threat/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt24f0874c1f14c6f6/6988d8ed8fd2ee85df358575/rex-tillerson-donald-trump-north-korea.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3439 og:image:height: 1934 og:image:alt: Donald Trump, Rex Tillerson og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Rex Tillerson: ‘Americans Should Sleep Well at Night' Despite North Korea Threat twitter:description: He said there isn't an imminent threat twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt24f0874c1f14c6f6/6988d8ed8fd2ee85df358575/rex-tillerson-donald-trump-north-korea.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Rex Tillerson: ‘Americans Should Sleep Well at Night' Despite North Korea Threat > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters.  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Aug 9, 2017 12:12 PM UTC  In this April 7, 2017 file photo, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson listens as President Donald Trump speaks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla. In this April 7, 2017 file photo, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson listens as President Donald Trump speaks at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Fla. Alex Brandon—AP  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Aug 9, 2017 12:12 PM UTC Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Wednesday there is not “any imminent threat” from [North Korea](http://time.com/4889426/north-korea-sanctions-reaction-tillerson/), sending a message of reassurance a day after [President Donald Trump](http://time.com/4892102/donald-trump-north-korea-news/) threatened to unleash “fire and fury like the world has never seen” on Pyongyang. “Americans should sleep well at night,” Tillerson said, according to the Associated Press. “What the president is doing is sending a strong message to North Korea in language that Kim Jong Un can understand, because he doesn’t seem to understand diplomatic language,” Tillerson said Wednesday. “I think the president just wanted to be clear to the North Korean regime on the U.S. unquestionable ability to defend itself, will defend itself and its allies.” Tillerson said he has not seen any evidence that the tense relationship between the two countries has “dramatically changed in the last 24 hours.” His message differed starkly from Trump’s on Tuesday, when the president responded to escalating [nuclear threats from North Korea](http://time.com/4891858/north-korea-nuclear-missiles/) with a warning of his own. “North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States,” Trump said. “They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen. He has been very threatening, beyond a normal statement. And as I said, they will be met with fire, fury, and, frankly, power the likes of which this world has never seen before.” The U.N. Security Council approved new sanctions against North Korea on Saturday, a measure aimed at pressuring the country to negotiate on its nuclear program. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4892949/rex-tillerson-donald-trump-north-korea-threat/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4892949/rex-tillerson-donald-trump-north-korea-threat/"},"headline":"Rex Tillerson: ‘Americans Should Sleep Well at Night' Despite North Korea Threat","datePublished":"2017-08-09T12:12:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T16:54:52.250Z","description":"He said there isn't an imminent threat","url":"https://time.com/4892949/rex-tillerson-donald-trump-north-korea-threat/","keywords":["North Korea","White House","Donald Trump","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt24f0874c1f14c6f6/6988d8ed8fd2ee85df358575/rex-tillerson-donald-trump-north-korea.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt24f0874c1f14c6f6/6988d8ed8fd2ee85df358575/rex-tillerson-donald-trump-north-korea.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald Trump, Rex Tillerson","caption":"Donald Trump, Rex Tillerson","creditText":"Alex Brandon—AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/north-korea/","name":"North Korea"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4892949/rex-tillerson-donald-trump-north-korea-threat/","name":"Rex Tillerson: ‘Americans Should Sleep Well at Night' Despite North Korea Threat"}}]}] ```