Mattis, in Seoul says US can't accept nuclear DPRK

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US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Saturday that he could not imagine United States ever accepting a nuclear Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), warning that its rapidly advancing nuclear and missile programs would undermine, not strengthen, its security.

Mattis has been at pains during his week-long trip to Asia to stress that diplomacy is America’s preferred course, a message he returned to after top-level military talks in Seoul on Saturday and at the tense border area with the DPRK on Friday.

Still, he warned Pyongyang that its military was no match for the US-ROK alliance, and that diplomacy was most effective “when backed by credible military force.”

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and ROK's Defense Minister Song Young-moo visit the truce village of Panmunjom, ROK, October 27, 2017. /Reuters Photo

“Make no mistake - any attack on the United States, or our allies, will be defeated. And any use of nuclear weapons by the North (DPRK) will be met with a massive military response that is both effective and overwhelming,” Mattis warned on at Saturday's press conference.

Mattis’s ROK's counterpart, Defense Minister Song Young-moo, dismissed the idea of deploying tactical nuclear weapons to the peninsula as a response to the DPRK’s advances.

But the US-ROK alliance had the ability to respond, even in the event of a nuclear attack from the DPRK, Song added.

Tension between the DPRK and the United States has been building after a series of nuclear and missile tests by Pyongyang and bellicose verbal exchanges between DPRK'S leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump.

The CIA has said DPRK could be only months away from developing the ability to hit the United States with nuclear weapons, a scenario Trump has vowed to prevent.

Mattis, too, said Kim’s behavior had left no room to imagine accepting Pyongyang’s nuclear status.

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis (L) shakes hands with ROK's President Moon Jae-in in Seoul, ROK October 27, 2017. /Reuters Photo

“I cannot imagine a condition under which the United States can accept the DPRK as a nuclear power,” Mattis told reporters

Mattis' trip comes ahead of Trump's first presidential visit to ROK next month as part of his Asia tour which also includes Japan, China, Vietnam and the Philippines. All eyes will be on Trump's message to the DPRK and Kim.

ROK's President Moon Jae-in, after talks with Mattis on Friday, said the “aggressive deployment” of US strategic assets in the region, which have included overflights by US bombers, had been effective in deterring the DPRK'S threat.

Source(s): AFP ,Reuters