Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has rejected Donald Trump's comments on North Korea after the US President said it was "a waste of time" trying to negotiate with dictator Kim Jong Un.
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On Monday, Ms Bishop urged Mr Trump to put maximum political, diplomatic and economic pressure on North Korea to bring it back to the negotiating table.
Mr Trump labelled Kim Jong Un "little rocket man" again on Monday morning.
"I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man," Mr Trump wrote on Twitter.
"Being nice to Rocket Man hasn't worked in 25 years, why would it work now? Clinton failed, Bush failed, and Obama failed.
"Save your energy Rex, we'll do what has to be done!," Mr Trump added.
Ms Bishop said Mr Trump was referring to North Korea failing to live up to any of the agreements that have been negotiated in the past and a pattern of kicking out independent inspectors of its nuclear program.
"However, that doesn't mean that we should stop trying," she said in Perth.
"I believe that Secretary Tillerson is seeking to find a resolution to the current crisis on the Korean Peninsula."
Ms Bishop praised Mr Trump for bringing China into the fold for what was seen as a Washington-Pyongyang issue under the Obama administration.
"China is now playing a much more active role and I think that is in response to the President's focus on North Korea as being an issue that the region must try solve," she said.
"It is in Australia's interests for there to be a resolution to this crisis. Three out of our four major trading partners are in North Asia, any further nuclear tests that threaten the security of the region of course would be against our interests, let alone those of the countries in the region."
Asked about Mr Trump's rhetoric in Beijing, Mr Tillerson said the situation had become "overheated."
"We've made it clear that we hope to resolve this through talks," he said on Sunday. "I think the most immediate action that we need is to calm things down."
The North Korean state news agency, Uriminzokkiri, vowed the country would become a "state nuclear force" after it conducted its sixth nuclear test earlier this month.
"The US and vassal forces would be well advised to bear in mind that their frantic sanctions - contrary to the trend of the times - will lead to their final doom," the agency said.
