Retired General Jim Mattis spoke to his South Korean and Japanese counterparts in Singapore, delivering bold statements. #SecDef Mattis discusses US leadership and #IndoPacific security…
Retired General Jim Mattis spoke to his South Korean and Japanese counterparts in Singapore, delivering bold statements.
#SecDef Mattis discusses US leadership and #IndoPacific security challenges during the #ShangriLaDialogue June 2. The #ShangriLa Dialogue, held by the @IISS_org, is an inter-governmental security forum attended by defense ministers and delegates from more than 50 nations. #SLD18 pic.twitter.com/o1VK4UKiSE
— U. S. Dept of Defense (@DeptofDefense) June 2,2018
The trilateral meeting took place at the 17th International Institute for Strategic Studies – or IISS – Shangri-la Dialogue, which is an annual defense and international security forum. Mattis was a guest of honor alongside his colleagues from the nations of Japan and South Korea, and took the opportunity to address the upcoming, recently-renewed peace summit planned for June 12 in the very same city.
Defense Minister Song Young-moo echoed this sentiment, reiterating the South Korean position that peace is the most desirable outcome but that it must be tempered with the expectation of denuclearization. Song spoke through an interpreter, and his remarks follow.
All present seemed to concur in this regard, with the former “Mad Dog” General Mattis elaborating at some length about the absolute requirement for concrete steps towards denuclearization and disarmament before the American government would make any moves whatsoever towards lifting the punitive economic sanctions currently entangling the impoverished nation.
