North Korea was warned last night it faces a “massive military response” that would be “overwhelming” if the regime threatens America or its allies.
North Korea was warned last night it faces a “massive military response” that would be “overwhelming” if the regime threatens America or its allies.
The US Defence Secretary said America was not looking to the “total annihilation” of the so-called rogue state, but warned that the Pentagon had “many options to do so”.
James Mattis was speaking after a meeting with US President Donald Trump to discuss a military response after North Korea tested a hydrogen bomb over the weekend. The blast was powerful enough to trigger an earthquake.
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson warned Mr Trump that any military action against North Korea could provoke leader Kim Jong-un to “vaporise” the South Korean population in response.
Angela Merkel said Germany was focused on trying to persuade America to pursue a diplomatic solution to the crisis.
The UN Security Council will meet today to discuss further sanctions, but there is growing concern in Europe that Mr Trump is considering a unilateral response to the latest provocation.
Mr Trump led world condemnation of North Korea’s biggest ever nuclear test, describing the actions as “hostile and dangerous” to the US. He added that “appeasement with North Korea will not work”, having recently promised to rain “fire and fury” on the state if it continued to threaten the US.
Mr Mattis had previously been considered a restraining influence on Mr Trump, but his statement last night suggests that the Pentagon may also now believe a red line has been crossed.
Mr Johnson called on China to take stronger action against Pyongyang, which is a major trading partner, and said: “It’s our view in the UK, overwhelmingly, that peaceful, diplomatic means are the best and we think the sanctions route still holds potential. China is responsible for 90pc of North Korea’s trade and North Korea only has six months of oil supplies left. There is scope to continue to put pressure on the regime.”
The hydrogen bomb test, the sixth to be carried out by North Korea and the first since Mr Trump became president, was 10 times as powerful as the most recent test last September. It follows a series of long-range missile tests that pose an increasing threat to the US.
Mr Trump described the new underground detonation as the actions of a “rogue nation” that was “very hostile and dangerous” to the US.
In a series of tweets, he also poured scorn on South Korea for what he said were attempts at “appeasement”, warning that North Korea “understands only one thing”.
However, most allies believe Washington has little option but to pursue diplomatic efforts to resolve the nuclear crisis.
His impatience with diplomacy risks dividing the international alliance arrayed against Pyongyang.
For its part, North Korea claimed it had tested a hydrogen bomb that could be delivered by a long-range missile.
“The H-bomb test was carried out to examine and confirm the accuracy and credibility of the power control technology, and internal structural design newly introduced into
manufacturing the H-bomb to be placed as the payload of the ICBM [inter-continental ballistic missile] , ” said state-run Korean Central News Agency.
Analysts said they could not be certain whether Pyongyang had developed a two-stage nuclear device, but added that the magnitude of the blast – representing a 120-kiloton bomb – suggested they were close.
Meanwhile, Japan said it had deployed “sniffer” jets to detect whether there had been any leaks of radiation. Moon Jae-In, president of South Korea, called for the “strongest punishment” against North Korea, including new United Nations sanctions.
China – North Korea’s key economic trading partner – criticised Pyongyang for ignoring international condemnation of its atomic weapons programme. (© Daily Telegraph, London)
