War: US vows 'overwhelming response' if North Korea launches attack
GETTY The US has vowed any North Korean attack “will be met with an effective and overwhelming response
Rex Tillerson and Jim Mattis both declared the US would “remain vigilant” in response to repeated threats from Kim Jong-un’s regime as they described the current tensions as escalating “to levels not experienced since the Korean War”. Their comments come as North Korea revealed plans to launch four missile towards US-owned Guam. The Secretary of State and Mattis, in a joint statement, said: “Any attack will be defeated, and any use of nuclear weapons will be met with an effective and overwhelming response. “North Korea now faces a choice. Take a new path toward peace, prosperity and international acceptance, or continue further down the dead alley of belligerence, poverty and isolation.
“The US will aspire and work for the former, and will remain vigilant against the latter.” The Trump administration officials also called on Russia and China, who are both North Korea’s major trade partners, to remain steadfast and not to provide Kim Jong-un’s regime with economic lifelines, which would be in violation of United Nation sanctions. Tillerson and the Defence Secretary said: “The US will continue to request Chinese and Russian commitments not to provide the regime with economic lifelines and to persuade it to abandon its dangerous path” “China’s Security Council vote was a step in the right direction. The region and world need and expect China to do more.”
GETTY The US has vowed to respond if follow through on North Korea plans to launch four missile at Guam
North Korea v USA explosive latest pictures Wed, August 9, 2017 Images depict how tensions have escalated between North Korea and the United States. Kim Jong-Un boasted of North Korea's ability to strike any target in the US after a second ICBM test that weapons experts said on July 29 could even bring New York into range - in a potent challenge to President Donald Trump Play slideshow AFP/Getty Images 1 of 40 North Korea's intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), Hwasong-14 being lauched at an undisclosed place in North Korea
Any attack will be defeated, and any use of nuclear weapons will be met with an effective and overwhelming response Rex Tillerson and Jim Mattis
Mattis later added that US military would know the trajectory of a missile fired by North Korea within moments and would "take it out" if it looked like it would hit the US Pacific territory of Guam. He continued: ”The bottom line is, we will defend the country from an attack, for us (US military) that is war.” The news comes as Kim Jong-un ordered his army to “be ready to strike at all times”. The dictator also issued a chilling warning to the US saying he “watch the actions of the US a little bit more”.
In pictures: The best place to escape Trump’s ‘fire and fury’ Fri, August 11, 2017 Built in 1970s, Pyongyang Metro may soon become the best place for North Korean's to escape Donald Trump's 'fire and fury' like the world has never seen Play slideshow Eric lafforgue/Exclusivepix medi 1 of 15 The Pyongyang subway The best place to escape american fire and fury