Mattis fires back at NKorea
WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Sunday shot back at North Korea’s latest nuclear provocation with a blunt threat, saying the U.S. will answer any North Korean threat with a “massive military response — a response both effective and overwhelming.” While he said America does not seek the “total annihilation” of the North, he added somberly, “We have many options to do so.”
A day that began with President Donald Trump calling North Korea an embarrassment to China and criticizing South Korea for its “talk of appeasement” ended with his Pentagon chief delivering strong words of warning.
The president’s treasury chief, Steven Mnuchin, said he would propose new sanctions for Trump to consider that would seek to cut off trade with North Korea. Trump went further, writing on Twitter that his administration was considering halting “all trade” with any country that does business with North Korea.
The administration has emphasized its pursuit of diplomatic solutions, knowing the potentially horrific costs of war with the North. But the decision to have Mattis deliver a public statement seemed to suggest an escalating crisis.
In a brief statement to reporters outside the White House, Mattis said the international community is unified in demanding the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and that the North’s leader, Kim Jong Un, should know that Washington’s commitment to Japan and South Korea is unshakeable.
With Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at his side, Mattis said, “Any threat to the United States or its territories, including Guam, or our allies will be met with a massive military response — a response both effective and overwhelming.” Those words alone were within the usual bounds of U.S. commentary on answering North Korean aggression. But he seemed to take it a step further with the reference to “total annihilation.”
Mattis, who did not take questions from reporters, said the president wanted to be briefed on each of what Mattis called “many military options” for action against North Korea. He did not mention any specific options, but his comment suggested that they discussed everything from a show of force such as an overflight of the peninsula by U.S. bombers to the latest war plan for destroying the North’s weaponry and eliminating its leadership.
“Kim Jong Un should take heed of the United Nations Security Council’s unified voice — all members unanimously agreed on the threat North Korea poses, and remain unanimous in their commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula - because we are not looking to the total annihilation of a country — namely, North Korea,” Mattis said. “But, as I said, we have many options to do so.”
North Korea claimed “perfect success” in an underground test of what it called a hydrogen bomb — potentially vastly more destructive than an atomic bomb. It was the North’s sixth nuclear test since 2006, but the first since Trump took office in January.
Trump, asked by a reporter during a trip to church services if he would attack the North, said: “We’ll see.”
No U.S. military action appeared imminent, and the immediate focus appeared to be on ratcheting up economic penalties, which have had little effect thus far. Members of Congress expressed alarm at the North’s test and emphasized strengthening U.S. missile defenses. Leaders in Russia, China and Europe issued condemnations.
The precise strength of the underground nuclear explosion had yet to be determined. South Korea’s weather agency said the artificial earthquake caused by the explosion was five times to six times stronger than tremors generated by the North’s previous five tests.