Mattis warns of ‘massive military response’ to NK nuclear threat
(CNN)U
S Defense Secretary James Mattis
warned of “a massive military response” to any threat from North Korea
against the United States or its allies in a statement outside the White
House after a meeting with President Donald Trump, Vice President Mike
Pence and top national security advisers Sunday.
Mattis said Trump wanted to be briefed on each of the “many military options” for dealing with the North Korean nuclear threat.
“Our commitment among the
allies are ironclad,” 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.”
Mattis called on North Korean leader Kim
Jong Un to “take heed” of the UN Security Council’s unanimous position
against North Korea’s nuclear program and again stressed the US
military’s position.
“We are not looking to the total
annihilation of a country, namely North Korea, but as I said, we have
many options to do so,” Mattis said.
After speaking with Japanese Prime
Minister Shinzo Abe for the second time in two days, Trump reaffirmed
the US commitment to defending the US and allies “using the full range
of diplomatic, conventional and nuclear capabilities at our disposal,”
according to a White House readout of the call.
The statements come after North Korea claimed it tested a hydrogen bomb on Sunday in what is its most powerful nuclear test to date.
Trump warned earlier Sunday that the
United States was considering stopping trade with any nation doing
business with North Korea as a way of dealing with the nuclear threat
from Pyongyang.
If carried out, that option could mean a
halt to US trade with China, which has supported economic sanctions on
North Korea but remains the key economic partner for the rogue nation.
Total trade between the US and China
topped nearly $650 billion last year, including exports of about $170
billion and imports of about $480 billion, the vast majority in goods,
according to the Office of the US Trade Representative. That makes China the United States’ largest trading partner in goods.
Sunday morning, Trump condemned North Korea’s claimed nuclear test in
a series of tweets, calling Pyongyang’s words and actions “hostile and
dangerous” and saying “talk of appeasement will not work.”
“North Korea has conducted a major
Nuclear Test. Their words and actions continue to be very hostile and
dangerous to the United States,” Trump wrote, adding that Pyongyang “has
become a great threat and embarrassment to China, which is trying to
help but with little success.”
“South Korea is finding, as I have told
them, that their talk of appeasement with North Korea will not work,
they only understand one thing!” the President wrote.
Later Sunday morning, Trump again teased the possibility that the US would attack North Korea.
As he left church, Trump was asked, “Will you attack North Korea?”
Trump answered, “We’ll see.”
Hours before Mattis’ statement outside
the White House, Trump tweeted that he would meet with administration
officials to discuss North Korea. He said the meeting would include the
defense secretary, White House chief of staff John Kelly and other
military leaders.
A National
Security Council official told CNN that national security adviser H.R.
McMaster also would attend the meeting, and Gen. Paul Selva, the vice
chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was seen entering the White
House.State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert tweeted Sunday
morning that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who was also scheduled
to attend the White House’s North Korea meeting, was making calls to his
counterparts, including South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha.
US Ambassador to the United Nations
Nikki Haley joined her counterparts from Japan, France, the United
Kingdom and South Korea in requesting an emergency UN Security Council meeting on North Korea Monday at 10 a.m. ET.
At the meeting, the US and its allies are looking to push through a new sanctions package, senior administration officials said.
The US is pressing for passage of a
resolution to curtail shipments of oil to North Korea on the rationale
that it would put severe pressure on Pyongyang, which gets most of its
oil from China, the officials said.
If the Chinese were to halt the shipments, it would hamper North Korea’s operations, including farming, they said.
