{"id":20077,"date":"2017-08-17T13:52:49","date_gmt":"2017-08-17T13:52:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2017\/08\/17\/us-war-would-be-horrific-but-north-korea-nukes-unimaginable\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:11:43","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:11:43","slug":"us-war-would-be-horrific-but-north-korea-nukes-unimaginable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/08\/17\/us-war-would-be-horrific-but-north-korea-nukes-unimaginable\/","title":{"rendered":"Dunford: War would be ‘horrific’ but North Korea nukes ‘unimaginable’"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

BEIJING \u2014 A military solution to the North Korean missile threat would be \u201chorrific\u201d but allowing Pyongyang to develop the capability to launch a nuclear attack on the United States is \u201cunimaginable,\u201d the top U.S. military officer said Thursday in Beijing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, told reporters that President Donald Trump directly has \u201ctold us to develop credible viable military options and that\u2019s exactly what we\u2019re doing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dunford was responding to questions about Trump\u2019s chief strategist Steve Bannon saying in a new interview that the threat posed by North Korea cannot handled by force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no military solution, forget it,\u201d Bannon told The American Prospect. \u201cUntil somebody solves the part of the equation that shows me that 10 million people in Seoul don\u2019t die in the first 30 minutes from conventional weapons, I don\u2019t know what you\u2019re talking about, there\u2019s no military solution here, they got us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Beijing, Dunford said it\u2019s \u201cabsolutely horrific if there would be a military solution to this problem, there\u2019s no question about it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But, he added, \u201cwhat\u2019s unimaginable is allowing KJU (North Korean leader Kim Jong Un) to develop ballistic missiles with a nuclear warhead that can threaten the United States and continue to threaten the region.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dunford met later Thursday with Chinese President Xi Jinping, during which both men reinforced the importance of exchanges between their militaries in stabilizing a relationship frequently roiled by disputes over security, diplomacy and trade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe both know that you and President Trump are committed to our improvement in military-to-military relations and we have approached it with great commitment, candor and we certainly want to deliver results,\u201d Dunford told Xi in opening remarks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier, Dunford met with his Chinese counterpart Fang Fenghui, chief of the People\u2019s Liberation Army\u2019s joint staff department, another top general, Fan Changlong and top foreign policy adviser, Yang Jiechi.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fan, the Chinese general, told Dunford that Beijing insists military action should be ruled out and \u201cnegotiations are the only effective option\u201d in addressing the situation on the Korean Peninsula, according to a statement from China\u2019s defense ministry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dunford visited South Korea earlier in the week and flies to Japan Thursday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Seoul, South Korean President Moon Jae-in said he would consider sending a special envoy to North Korea for talks if the North stops its missile and nuclear tests, in an effort to jumpstart diplomacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also declared, amid fears in South Korea that threats from Trump to unleash \u201cfire and fury\u201d on Pyongyang could lead to real fighting, that there would be no second war on the Korean Peninsula.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe people worked together to rebuild the country from the Korean War, and we cannot lose everything again because of a war,\u201d Moon said in a nationally televised news conference. \u201cI can confidently say there will not be a war again on the Korean Peninsula.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dunford also told reporters in Beijing that \u201cthere\u2019s no question\u201d any potential military action in the Korean Peninsula would be taken only in consultation with South Korea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSouth Korea is an ally and everything we do in the region is in the context of our alliance,\u201d Dunford said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Moon\u2019s comments follow a spike in animosity generated by North Korea\u2019s warning that it might send missiles into waters near the U.S. territory of Guam, and by Trump\u2019s warlike language. Both of the rival Koreas and the United States have signaled in recent days, however, a willingness to avert a deepening crisis, with each suggesting a path toward negotiations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump tweeted that Kim had \u201cmade a very wise and well reasoned decision,\u201d referring to North Korean official media saying the leader would not give an immediate order to launch multiple missiles toward Guam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe alternative would have been both catastrophic and unacceptable!\u201d Trump wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next week\u2019s start of annual U.S.-South Korean military exercises that enrage the North each year could make diplomacy even more difficult.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dunford told reporters that he has advised the U.S. leadership not to dial back on the exercises with South Korea.<\/p>\n\n\n\t