23 September, 2017
"This is still a diplomatically led effort", Mattis told the Air Force Association's annual Air, Space & Cyber Conference in Washington. Kim Hyo-sun, Arirang News. The system has a range of about 20 kilometers (12 miles).
On September 3, North Korea carried out its sixth and most powerful nuclear test.
Defense Secretary James Mattis said Monday the US has discussed redeploying tactical nuclear weapons in South Korea. But he declined to say whether the option is under consideration.
A war on the Korean peninsula would be brutal and likely kill millions of civilians on both sides, Mattis and other Pentagon officials have said. "If that doesn't work, General Mattis will take care of it", she said on CNN's "State of the Union".
North Korea's Foreign Minister left for NY on Tuesday to attend the UN General Assembly session at a time of heightened tension on the Korean Peninsula over Pyongyang's repeated weapons tests and increase in sanctions against the Kim Jong-un regime.
Three new financial initiatives were undertaken by Russian Federation and North Korea since the beginning of the year.
Nonetheless, Kim has shown no sign that he intends to stop testing missiles or abandon his nuclear program.
North Korea fired a Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile on August 29 and another one on Friday. However, the naval exercises come amid World War 3 fears caused by the North's provocative tests and missile launches.
Alarmed by North Korea's advancing weapons programs, many conservatives in South Korea have called for the reintroduction of US tactical nuclear weapons in the South. The country flight-tested two intercontinental ballistic missiles in July.
China's central bank has told banks to strictly implement United Nations sanctions against North Korea, four sources told Reuters, amid USA concerns that Beijing has not been tough enough over Pyongyang's repeated nuclear tests. On September 9, two U.S. strategic B1-B bombers conducted military exercises in the skies above the East China Sea together with a pair of Japanese F-15 fighter jets. Some have argued that the North Korean crisis can be "solved" if China applies economic pressure on the isolated regime. The test showed that the USA territory of Guam is now in range of a North Korean attack.
Meanwhile, the new USA 7th fleet commander met with Japan's defense minister to call for stronger ties between their countries and South Korea. That capability has restarted debate whether Canada should reverse its long-held position and join the US missile defence program, created to use land-based missiles to intercept incoming missiles.
