Trump's hawkish security adviser reportedly held secret meetings with Japan and South Korea about standing up to North Korea

REUTERS/Yuri Gripas

National security adviser Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster waits to be introduced at the FDD National Security Summit in Washington, U.S., October 19, 2017.

• President Donald Trump's hawkish national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, reportedly took a meeting with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts to discuss North Korea.
• McMaster has reportedly been pushing Trump to strike North Korea, and allegedly dismissed the recent talks between North and South Korea as "diversions."
• The US has backed off military drills that anger North Korea, but stepped up pressure and military deployments in other ways.

H.R. McMaster, the legendary US Army General and academic who leads President Donald Trump's National Security Council has reportedly attended secret meetings with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts on North Korea.

McMaster, a noted hawk who is reportedly pushing for Trump to give Kim Jong Un a "bloody nose" by conducting a limited strike on North Korea, reportedly took meetings on Saturday and Sunday in San Francisco to stress the need for the three countries to present a unified front against Pyongyang, according to Axios.

In the meetings, Axios reports that McMaster dismissed North Korea's recent thawing of tensions with and talks to Pyongyang as "diversions," noting that Kim still completely intends to develop nuclear weapons to threaten the US.

Axios' report sheds light in one of the more inaccessible parts of Trump's presidency, where top staffers guide his hand on North Korean issues.

While many have looked to the recent talks between North and South Korea as a beacon of hope, it could be that McMaster is looking past them. Though the US and South Korea took a big step towards peace talks by delaying joint military drills until after the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics and Paralympics conclude in mid-March, the US has stepped up pressure in other ways.

US officials are now discussing interdicting ships they suspect of heading into North Korea, and the US has deployed all three varieties of strategic bombers to Guam as tensions soar between the two countries.