Tillerson, Mattis insist military options remain for confronting North Korea
America’s diplomatic and defense WASHINGTONchiefs sought Thursday to reinforce the threat of possible U.S. military action against North Korea Trump’safter Presidenttop strategistDonald essentially called the warningscommandera bluff.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson stressed after security talks with close ally Japan that the U.S. seeks a peaceful solution to the standoff over North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. But he said a U.S.-led campaign of economic pressure and diplomacy needs to be backed by potential military consequences. — Washington militarily” is to “prepared respond, if necessary, he said. Mr. Tillerson spoke after he and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis held annual security talks with Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera and Foreign Minister Taro Kono at the Statein-chief’s Department. Much of the discussion focused on North Korea, which also poses a threat to Japan. Neither Mr. Tillerson nor Mr. Mattis responded directly to strategist Steve Bannon’s argument in an interview published Wednesday that there’s no military solution to the North Korean threat, and that he might consider a deal in which U.S. troops withdrew from South Korea in exchange for a verifiable freeze in the North’s nuclear program. But both Cabinet members sought to rebut the claim. And earlier, Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, the top U.S. military officer, dismissed the possibility of a U.S. troop withdrawal and repeated the administration’s earlier position that military action was not preferable but still possible.
“In close collaboration with our allies, there are strong military consequences if DPRK initiates hostilities,” Mr. Mattis said, referring to an abbreviation of the North’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.