Mattis: threat of North Korea nuclear attack 'is accelerating'

The Guardian

In Seoul US defence secretary said Pyongyang engages in ‘outlaw’ behaviour and that the US will never accept a nuclear North Korea.

 James Mattis shakes hands with South Korean defense minister Song Young-moo

. . . "He added that regardless of what the North might try, it is overmatched by the firepower and cohesiveness of the decades-old US-South Korean alliance.

“ 'North Korea has accelerated the threat that it poses to its neighbors and the world through its illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear weapons programs,” he said, adding that US-South Korean military and diplomatic collaboration thus has taken on “a new urgency.”

“ 'I cannot imagine a condition under which the United States would accept North Korea as a nuclear power,” he said

"As he emphasized throughout his weeklong Asia trip, which included stops in Thailand and the Philippines, Mattis said diplomacy remains the preferred way to deal with the North.

“ 'With that said,” he added, “make no mistake – any attack on the United States or our allies will be defeated, and any use of nuclear weapons by the North will be met with a massive military response that is effective and overwhelming.”

"Mattis’s comments in Seoul did not go beyond his recent statements of concern about North Korea, although he appeared to inject a stronger note about the urgency of resolving the crisis." . . .

Pictured: General Mattis's statement to the First Marine Division just before the invasion of Iraq and the overthrow of Saddaam Hussein.