{"id":21337,"date":"2017-10-28T14:36:21","date_gmt":"2017-10-28T14:36:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2017\/10\/28\/mattis-north-korea-engages-in-outlaw-behavior\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T02:16:39","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T02:16:39","slug":"mattis-north-korea-engages-in-outlaw-behavior","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/flashpoints\/2017\/10\/28\/mattis-north-korea-engages-in-outlaw-behavior\/","title":{"rendered":"Mattis: North Korea engages in ‘outlaw’ behavior"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SEOUL, South Korea \u2014 The threat of nuclear missile attack by North Korea is accelerating, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Saturday, accusing the North of illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear programs, and pledging to repel any strike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In remarks in Seoul with South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo at his side, Mattis said North Korea engages in \u201coutlaw\u201d behavior and that the U.S. will never accept a nuclear North.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Pentagon chief added that regardless of what the North might try, it is overmatched by the firepower and cohesiveness of the decades-old U.S.-South Korean alliance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNorth Korea has accelerated the threat that it poses to its neighbors and the world through its illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear weapons programs,\u201d he said, adding that U.S.-South Korean military and diplomatic collaboration thus has taken on \u201ca new urgency.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI cannot imagine a condition under which the United States would accept North Korea as a nuclear power,\u201d Mattis said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As he emphasized throughout his weeklong Asia trip, which included stops in Thailand and the Philippines, Mattis said diplomacy remains the preferred way to deal with the North.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWith that said,\u201d he added, \u201cmake no mistake \u2014 any attack on the United States or our allies will be defeated, and any use of nuclear weapons by the North will be met with a massive military response that is effective and overwhelming.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mattis\u2019 comments did not go beyond his recent statements of concern about North Korea, although he appeared to inject a stronger note about the urgency of resolving the crisis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While he accused the North of \u201coutlaw\u201d behavior, he did not mention that President Donald Trump has ratcheted up his own rhetoric. In August, Trump warned the North not to make any more threats against the United States, and said that if it did, it would be met with \u201cfire and fury like the world has never seen.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Song, the South Korean minister, told the news conference that he and Mattis agreed to further cooperation on strengthening Seoul\u2019s defense capabilities, including lifting warhead payload limits on South Korean conventional missiles and supporting the country\u2019s acquisition of \u201cmost advanced military assets.\u201d He offered no specifics and refused to answer when asked whether the discussions included nuclear-powered submarines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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South Korean soldiers fire a gun salute during a welcome honor guard ceremony for U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis at Defense Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017. (Lee Jin-man\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Some South Korean government officials have endorsed the nation getting nuclear-powered submarines amid calls for more military strength. There\u2019s a growing concern among the South Korean public that North Korea\u2019s expanding nuclear weapons arsenal, which may soon include an intercontinental ballistic missile that could target the U.S. mainland, would undermine Seoul\u2019s long alliance with Washington.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Korea\u2019s conservative politicians have also called for the United States to bring back tactical nuclear weapons that were withdrawn from the Korean Peninsula in the 1990s. But Mattis and Song were strongly dismissive of the idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen considering national interest, it\u2019s much better not to deploy them,\u201d said Song, adding that the allies would have \u201csufficient means\u201d to respond to a North Korean nuclear attack even without placing tactical nuclear weapons in the South. Mattis said current U.S. strategic assets are already providing nuclear deterrence and that the South Korean government has never approached him with the subject of tactical nuclear weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis salutes during a welcome honor guard ceremony at Defense Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017. (Lee Jin-man\/AP)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Trump entered office declaring his commitment to solving the North Korea problem, asserting that he would succeed where his predecessors had failed. His administration has sought to increase pressure on Pyongyang through U.N. Security Council sanctions and other diplomatic efforts, but the North hasn\u2019t budged from its goal of building a full-fledged nuclear arsenal, including missiles capable of striking the U.S. mainland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If Trump sticks to his pledge to stop the North from being able to threaten the U.S. with a nuclear attack, something will have to give \u2014 either a negotiated tempering of the North\u2019s ambitions or a U.S. acceptance of the North as a nuclear power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other alternative would be U.S. military action to attempt to neutralize or eliminate the North\u2019s nuclear assets – a move fraught with risk for South Korea, Japan and the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mattis touched off unease in South Korea last month when he told reporters at the Pentagon that the United States has military options for North Korea that doesn\u2019t put Seoul at risk. At Saturday\u2019s briefing, Mattis didn\u2019t offer a direct answer to what those options are or how and when they would be used.<\/p>\n\n\n\t