US Defense Secretary James Mattis warned Pyongyang on Friday that any use of nuclear weapons by North Korea would be met with an overwhelming response.
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.
Mattis said that by sticking to its nuclear and missile programthe North was in effect "reducing its security," after Pyongyang justified its research of nuclear weapons by a threat from the United States.
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.