Two former U.S. secretaries of state warn that North Korea’s evolving nuclear program presents an immediate national security threat over the possibility the regime would use the weapons and a longer-term threat because it will encourage nuclear proliferation.
A joint U.S-South Korean decision to postpone planned military exercises until after the 2018 Winter Olympics was more of a practical than political decision, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said.
The PyeongChang Olympics begin Friday, February 9 with the opening ceremony and a few events, and ends February 25. Joint military drills had been planned in South Korea during at least part of the international games but the two countries announced they would hold off.
U.S. forces since Operation Desert Storm in 1991 “have become accustomed to relying heavily on an expeditionary approach to power projection."
“Combat readiness is our No. 1 priority,” Milley said. “The need has become more apparent.” And, he said, it may be accelerating.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the international situation today “is the most complex and demanding” he has seen in his four decades of service, and he needs the Army to be “at the top of your game, in body, spirit. Mentally, I want you to enhance right now. We must be so ready … that everybody in the world will want to deal with [Secretary of State Rex] Tillerson’s Department of State, not the Department of Defense, your warfighting skills” and for every day they are in uniform “to be dedicated to getting better.”
In an increasingly politically toxic world, there is bipartisan and international support for stopping North Korea’s nuclear threat.
Addressing the U.N. General Assembly on Sept. 19, President Donald Trump said North Korea’s “reckless pursuit of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles threatens the entire world with unthinkable loss of human life.”
This year marks a critical period for our soldiers, families and civilians in Korea. Eighth Army is undergoing massive changes.
The biggest threat facing the U.S. today comes from North Korea’s missile advances, and the danger is growing, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley said.
Speaking at the National Press Club, Milley said North Korea’s successful Fourth of July test of an intercontinental ballistic missile shows the rogue nation has advanced faster than expected toward its threat of being able to reach the U.S. with a nuclear warhead. “North Korea is a significant threat,” Milley said.
But the U.S. should strike at “legitimate military targets” and avoid innocent civilian populations and noncombatants to the fullest extent possible.
