Mattis denounces Kim at DMZ
SEOUL: In a visit to the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) that separates the two Koreas, US Secretary of Defence James Mattis yesterday accused North Korea of building a nuclear arsenal to “threaten others with catastrophe”, the Yonhap news agency reported.
Mr Mattis pledged solidarity with US ally South Korea, saying that President Donald Trump’s administration wants to avoid war if possible and remains committed to forcing North Korea to disarm, according to Yonhap.
The defence secretary is in South Korea for talks this weekend with counterpart Song Young-moo on a trip that comes ahead of Mr Trump’s planned visit to the country early next month.
They are set to discuss the bilateral defence alliance, including a timetable for returning wartime operational control to Seoul from Washington.
While a Trump visit to the DMZ hasn’t been ruled out by the White House, it could been seen as provocative — North and South Korean soldiers stand feet part on either side of a line that marks the heavily fortified border.
Tensions have eased in recent weeks during a brief halt in Pyongyang’s nuclear tests and missile launches.
The reclusive nation’s last missile launch was on Sept 15, an intermediate-range missile that flew over the northern Japan.
Making time to visit a US-South Korean military observation post to peer into North Korea, Mr Mattis was also briefed on conditions along the border created after a truce halted the Korean War in 1953.
Diplomacy should “start by addressing a fundamental issue at the heart of the problem — namely, that no peace treaty has ever been signed”, Carl Bildt, former prime minister of Sweden, wrote in an article published on Wednesday by Project Syndicate.
“A dialogue to replace the 64-year-old armistice with a formal peace agreement could pave the way for broader discussions about nuclear escalation and other threats to regional stability.”
“The nuclear device and missiles that North Korea is developing are unusable weapons, and any use of them will be strongly retaliated by the united forces of South Korea and the US,” said South Korea’s Mr Song, who accompanied Mr Mattis on the trip.
“We strongly call for North Korea to stop its reckless provocations and come to the inter-Korean dialogue for peace as soon as possible.”
South Korea’s military said this week that no particular signs beyond ordinary activities have been spotted, though North Korea continues to seek the capability to strike the US with a nuclear weapon.
Kim In-ryong, North Korea’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations, said on Oct 16 that a nuclear war “may break out any moment” and that “the entire US mainland is within our firing range”.
Another senior official told CNN this week that the world should take literally his country’s threat to test a nuclear weapon above ground.