US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says that Olympics talks between North and South Korea should not lead to distraction from the goal of denuclearizing Pyongyang.
Mattis made the remarks Friday during a photo session with South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo at US Pacific Command headquarters in Hawaii a day after Seoul’s top diplomat said a military solution would not be acceptable.
“Diplomacy should impose reason on Kim’s reckless rhetoric and dangerous provocations,” Mattis said. “The international pressure campaign must continue.”
Song said the talks with the North are “about ultimately drawing the North into a dialogue with the United States.”
“We both understand each other well and that as an alliance, we always go together,” he added.
South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said Thursday at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland that the notion of using military force to make North Korea stop its nuclear program…