Ground invasion is the only way to beat Kim, says Pentagon
THE Pentagon has warned that a ground invasion would be the only way to disarm North Korea.
In an assessment of what war would entail, US military chiefs said Pyongyang could use biological, chemical and nuclear weapons in retaliation.
It said full details of how best to ‘counter North Korea’s ability to respond with a nuclear weapon and eliminate [its] nuclear weapons’ are best suited to a classified briefing.
But in a letter to US politicians, a Pentagon chief said North Korea ‘has a long-standing chemical weapons program with the capability to produce nerve, blister, blood and choking agents’.
The letter, published in the Washington Post, was written by Rear Admiral Michael Dumont, vice director of the Pentagon’s Joint Staff, after he was asked for information by two Democrats about the number of casualties that could be expected in a conflict with North Korea. Mr Dumont said calculating ‘even the roughest’ figures would be very difficult.
He added: ‘The only way to locate and destroy – with complete certainty – all components of North Korea’s nuclear weapons programs is through a ground invasion.’
Donald Trump has frequently taunted Kim Jong-un as ‘Rocket Man’ and suggested military force might be needed. But in a U-turn last night, he said he may sit down with the dictator.
‘I don’t think it’s strength or weakness, I think sitting down with people is not a bad thing,’ he told the Full Measure news show. ‘So I would certainly be open to doing that [with Kim] but we’ll see where it goes.’
Beginning his tour of Asia, Mr Trump separately told crowds at Yokota Air Base, west of Tokyo, ‘noone, no dictator, no regime and no nation should underestimate American resolve’.