MOSCOW (Sputnik) — "The US does not accept a nuclear North Korea… Make no mistake, any attack on the US or our allies will be defeated. Any use of nuclear weapons by the North will be met with a massive military response, effective and overwhelming, " he said during a speech in Seoul.
The Pentagon chief stressed that dialogue remained Washington's preferred method of settling the dispute with Pyongyang but added the threat of a nuclear strike from the North was accelerating.
During his fourth trip to Asia in his current post, Mattis went to South Korea on Friday to co-chair the 49th annual Security Consultative Meeting. He also visited the demilitarized buffer zone between the two Koreas with South’s Defense Minister Song Young-moo.
Standing on the border between North + South Korea, Secretary of Defense James Mattis said of America's intentions, "Our goal is not war." pic.twitter.com/FsaVpIcIGB
— PBS NewsHour (@NewsHour) 27 октября 2017 г.
The United States and South Korea, Mattis said, remain steadfast allies in the face of a threat from the North, which is pushing ahead with efforts to develop nuclear-tipped missiles capable of reaching the continental United States.
