Trump on DPRK: Military option not the first choice

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US President Donald Trump warned the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Tuesday that any US military option would be “devastating” for Pyongyang, but said the use of force was not Washington’s first option to deal with the country’s ballistic and nuclear weapons program.

“We are totally prepared for the second option, not a preferred option,” Trump said at a White House news conference, referring to military force. “But if we take that option, it will be devastating, I can tell you that, devastating for North Korea [DPRK]. That’s called the military option. If we have to take it, we will.”

Bellicose statements by Trump and the DPRK leader Kim Jong Un in recent weeks have created fears that a miscalculation could lead to action with untold ramifications, particularly since Pyongyang conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test on September 3.

Despite the increased tension, the United States has not detected any change in the DPRK’s military posture reflecting an increased threat, the top US military official said on Tuesday.

General Joseph Dunford, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, US, September 26, 2017. /Reuters Photo

The assessment by General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, about Pyongyang’s military stance was in contrast to a South Korean lawmaker who said Pyongyang had boosted defenses on its east coast.

“While the political space is clearly very charged right now, we haven’t seen a change in the posture of North Korea [DPRK] forces, and we watch that very closely,” Dunford told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on his reappointment to his post.

In terms of a sense of urgency, “North Korea [DPRK] certainly poses the greatest threat today,” Dunford testified.

DPRK Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, before speaking to the media outside the Millennium Hotel in New York, US on September 25, 2017. /Reuters Photo

A US official speaking on condition of anonymity said satellite imagery had detected a small number of the DPRK's military aircraft moving to the country's east coast. However, the official said the activity did not change their assessment of Pyongyang’s military posture.

DPRK Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho on Monday accused Trump of declaring war on the DPRK and threatened that Pyongyang would shoot down US warplanes flying near the Korean Peninsula after American bombers flew close to it last Saturday. Ri was reacting to Trump’s Twitter comments that Kim and Ri “won’t be around much longer” if they acted on their threats toward the United States.

Source(s): Reuters