BEIJING: A military solution to the North Korean missile threat would be 鈥渉orrific鈥� but allowing Pyongyang to develop the capability to launch a nuclear attack on the United States is 鈥渦nimaginable,鈥� the top US military officer said Thursday in Beijing.
The chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, told reporters that President Donald Trump directly has 鈥渢old us to develop credible viable military options and that鈥檚 exactly what we鈥檙e doing.鈥�
Dunford was responding to questions about Trump鈥檚 chief strategist Steve Bannon saying in a new interview that there鈥檚 no military solution to the threat posed by North Korea.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no military solution, forget it,鈥� Bannon told The American Prospect. 鈥淯ntil somebody solves the part of the equation that shows me that 10 million people in Seoul don鈥檛 die in the first 30 minutes from conventional weapons, I don鈥檛 know what you鈥檙e talking about, there鈥檚 no military solution here, they got us.鈥�
In Beijing, Dunford said it鈥檚 鈥渁bsolutely horrific if there would be a military solution to this problem, there鈥檚 no question about it.鈥�
But, he added, 鈥渨hat鈥檚 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.鈥�
Dunford has met with his Chinese counterpart Fang Fenghui, chief of the People鈥檚 Liberation Army鈥檚 joint staff department. He also met with Fan Changlong, vice chairman of the ruling Communist Party鈥檚 Central Military Commission, and Yang Jiechi, China鈥檚 top diplomat.
Fan, the Chinese general, told Dunford that Beijing insists military action should be ruled out and 鈥渘egotiations are the only effective option鈥� in addressing the situation on the Korean Peninsula, according to a statement by China鈥檚 defense ministry.
Dunford has been in Asia this week, visiting South Korea, Japan and China.
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.
He also declared, amid fears in South Korea that threats from Trump to unleash 鈥渇ire and fury鈥� on Pyongyang could lead to real fighting, that there would be no second war on the Korean Peninsula.
鈥淭he people worked together to rebuild the country from the Korean War, and we cannot lose everything again because of a war,鈥� Moon said in a nationally televised news conference. 鈥淚 can confidently say there will not be a war again on the Korean Peninsula.鈥�
Dunford also told reporters in Beijing that 鈥渢here鈥檚 no question鈥� any potential military action in the Korean Peninsula would be taken only in consultation with South Korea.
鈥淪outh Korea is an ally and everything we do in the region is in the context of our alliance,鈥� Dunford said.
Moon鈥檚 comments follow a spike in animosity generated by North Korea鈥檚 warning that it might send missiles into waters near the US territory of Guam, and by Trump鈥檚 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.
Trump tweeted that Kim had 鈥渕ade a very wise and well reasoned decision,鈥� referring to North Korean official media saying the leader would not give an immediate order to launch multiple missiles toward Guam.
鈥淭he alternative would have been both catastrophic and unacceptable!鈥� Trump wrote.
Next week鈥檚 start of annual US-South Korean military exercises that enrage the North each year could make diplomacy even more difficult.
Dunford told reporters that he has advised the US leadership not to dial back on the exercises with South Korea.
鈥淎s long as the threat in North Korea exists we need to maintain a high state of readiness to respond to that threat,鈥� he said.
Moon was elected in May after a near-decade of conservative rule that saw animosity deepen between the rival Koreas. Moon wants to engage the North. But his efforts have so far been met with a string of threats and missile tests as the North works to build nuclear-armed missiles that can reach the US mainland.
鈥淎 dialogue between South and North Korea must resume. But we don鈥檛 need to be impatient,鈥� Moon said.
Moon said he thinks Trump鈥檚 belligerent words are intended to show a strong resolve for pressuring the North and don鈥檛 necessarily display the willingness for military strikes.
鈥淭he United States and President Trump have already promised to sufficiently consult with South Korea and get our approval for whatever option they will take against North Korea,鈥� Moon said.
North Korea鈥檚 threats against Guam and its advancing missile capabilities, highlighted by a pair of intercontinental ballistic missile flight tests in July, have raised security jitters among many South Koreans who worry that a fully functional ICBM in Pyongyang would force the United States to rethink whether to trade New York or Washington for Seoul in the event of a war on the peninsula.
鈥淚 think the North perfecting an ICBM, loading an atomic warhead on it and weaponizing it is a red line. North Korea is nearing a threshold for the red line,鈥� Moon said. Moon didn鈥檛 elaborate, but many foreign experts have viewed the North鈥檚 possessing a reliable ICBM as a tripwire for potential US strikes.
US: War would be 鈥榟orrific鈥� but North Korean nuclear capability 鈥榰nimaginable鈥�
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