By Lisa Ferdinando DoD News, Defense Media Activity
The regime of North Korea’s Kim Jong-un remains a danger to
the world, Defense Secretary James N. Mattis said yesterday in Honolulu, while
emphasizing diplomatic efforts to resolve the North Korean nuclear issue.
The goal remains the complete, verifiable and irreversible
denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, Mattis told reporters at U.S. Pacific
Command’s headquarters at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, with South Korea
Minister of Defense Song Young-moo.
“The Kim regime is a threat to the entire world,” Mattis
said. “It’s an international problem that requires an international solution.”
He noted three unanimous United Nations Security Council
Resolutions on North Korea.
“Our response to this threat remains diplomacy led, backed
up with military options available to ensure that our diplomats are understood
to be speaking from a position of strength,” the secretary explained.
U.S.-South Korea ‘Ironclad and Irreplaceable’ Alliance
Mattis and Song reaffirmed the strength of their countries’
alliance and America’s pledge to defend South Korea and maintain peace and
stability on the Korean Peninsula.
The U.S.-South Korean alliance is “ironclad and
irreplaceable,” Mattis said.
“Our combined militaries stand shoulder-to-shoulder ready to
defend against any attack” on South Korea or the United States, he said.
Mattis praised South Korea’s “steadfast action upholding
United Nations sanctions at sea,” noting South Korea has impounded two ships
that were found violating the U.N. Resolutions using ship-to-ship transfer at
cargo at sea.
South Korea “leads by example in carrying out the United
Nations’ sanctions,” Mattis said, adding North Korea is reminded that “risking
its economy to boost its rockets makes it less secure, not more.”
Enduring Pacific Power
Mattis said Song is always welcome at the Pacific Command
headquarters in Honolulu. This was the last stop of the secretary’s trip that
also took him to Indonesia and Vietnam.
“Here in beautiful Hawaii we’re reminded that America is an
enduring Pacific power -- five of our states plus territories all touch on this
shared ocean,” he said.
Reckless Rhetoric, Dangerous Provocations
Mattis said the United States and South Korea welcome the
Olympic Games talks between North Korea and South Korea, but at the same time,
“remain steadfast with the international economic pressure campaign to
denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.”
The talks for the Olympics, Mattis explained, do not address
the overarching problems with North Korea.
“Diplomacy should repose reason on Kim’s reckless rhetoric
and dangerous provocations,” he said.
North Korea is sending athletes, including hockey players
for a unified South Korea-North Korea team, to the 2018 Winter Games in South
Korea. The games begin Feb. 9.