US Secretary of Defense James Mattis yesterday said that curbing military threats from North Korea would be high on the agenda on his Asian tour this week, ahead of a visit by US President Donald Trump.
Tension has been high on the Korean Peninsula for months with Pyongyang staging its sixth nuclear test and launching two ICBMs that apparently brought much of the US mainland into range, while Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un trade threats of war and personal insults.
Mattis, on his way to the Philippines for security talks with Southeast Asian defense ministers, said he would discuss the “regional security crisis caused by reckless ... North Korea” among other issues.
At the forum, Mattis is also expected to hold three-way talks with his counterparts from South Korea and Japan before visiting Seoul for annual defense talks.
“We will discuss ... how we are going to maintain peace by keeping our militaries alert while our diplomats — Japanese, South Korean and US — work with all nations to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula,” Mattis told reporters on his aircraft as he headed to Manila.
He said the international community’s goal was to denuclearize the flashpoint region, adding: “There is only one country with nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula.”
Mattis’ visit to Seoul comes ahead of Trump’s first presidential trip to Asia next month.
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