New Delhi: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on monday said that North Korea must halt ballistic missile tests if it wants to talk to Washginton about resolving the existing impasse. 

Speaking at a security forum in Manila, MrTillerson said, the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) vote to impose sanctions on Pyongyang showed that world powers were united behind a push for a denuclearised Korean peninsula.

Yesterday, MrTillerson held separate talks in Manila with the Foreign Ministers of China and Russia, both of whom, he said, were in support of a tough stance on North Korea's arsenal. 

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump and his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-In on monday agreed that North Korea poses a grave and growing direct threat to most of the world. The two leaders, in a telephonic conversation, welcomed the new UNSC sanctions.

North Korea has condemned the sanctions saying it will launch its revenge. In a statement, Pyongyang said, the sanctions were caused by US plans to isolate North Korea and the sanctions will never force the country to negotiate over its nuclear program or to give up its initiatives. North Korea said that it would take “action of justice”.