WASHINGTON (XINHUA) - US Secretary of Defence James Mattis reaffirmed on Saturday (April 28) the commitment to defend South Korea, voicing support to diplomatic solution to the Korean Peninsula issue.

Mr Mattis reiterated "the ironclad US commitment" to defend its ally "using the full spectrum of US capabilities" in phone discussion with his South Korean counterpart Song Young Moo on the results of last Friday's inter-Korea summit, Pentagon chief spokesman Dana White said a statement.

The two defence chiefs also expressed commitment to a diplomatic resolution that achieves "complete, verifiable, and irreversible" denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, as reflected in multiple UN Security Council's resolutions, the statement said.

In his conversation with Mr Mattis, Mr Song reviewed the Panmunjom Declaration and the efforts to improve inter-Korea relations while achieving denuclearisation.

The Panmunjom Declaration for Peace, Prosperity and Unification of the Korean Peninsula, signed last Friday by South Korean President Moon Jae In and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, pledged joint efforts for national reconciliation, denuclearisation and lasting peace.

Last Friday, Mr Mattis said the United States will discuss with its allies and North Korea the need for US troops to stay stationed on the peninsula.

The United States "will build, through confidence-building measures, a degree of trust if it's going to go forward". he added, referring to the dialogue with North Korea on denuclearising the peninsula.

The US troops have stayed in South Korea ever since the signing of the Korean War armistice treaty in 1953. Bilateral relations are often strained over issues such as defence burden sharing, the US army's harassment of South Korean civilians and Seoul's initiative to take back the war-time command control from Washington, among others. </s> WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary James Mattis spoke Saturday with their South Korean counterparts after the meeting between the leaders of the two Koreas, and Trump said "things are going very well" as he prepares for a summit with the North's Kim Jong Un.

Mattis and Defense Minister Song Young-moo said they were committed to "a diplomatic resolution that achieves complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization" of North Korea, according to the Pentagon's chief spokesman, Dana White. Mattis also reaffirmed "the ironclad U.S. commitment" to defend South Korea "using the full spectrum of U.S. capabilities."

Trump tweeted Saturday that he had "a long and very good talk" with South Korean President Moon Jae-in. He also said he updated Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe about "the ongoing negotiations" for an anticipated summit with Kim, tentatively scheduled for May or early June.

Today, South Korean presidential spokesman Yoon Young-chan said Kim plans to shut down the country's nuclear test site in May and reveal the process to experts and journalists from the United States and South Korea. He said Kim made the comments during his summit with Moon on Friday.

According to Yoon, Kim also said Trump will learn he's "not a person" to fire missiles toward the United States.

Yoon said North Korea also plans to readjust its current time zone to match the South's. The North in 2015 created its own "Pyongyang Time" by setting the clock 30 minutes behind the South.

"If we maintain frequent meetings and build trust with the United States and receive promises for an end to the war and a nonaggression treaty, then why would [we] need to live in difficulty by keeping our nuclear weapons?" Yoon quoted Kim as saying.

Moon and Kim have pledged to seek a formal end to the Korean War, fought from 1950-53, by year's end and to rid the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons. Trump has said he's looking forward to his meeting with Kim and that it "should be quite something."

"Things are going very well, time and location of meeting with North Korea is being set," Trump tweeted. A statement from the White House describing the call between Trump and Moon also referred to the North's future being contingent upon "complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization."

Mattis has said the U.S. is "optimistic right now that there's opportunity here that we have never enjoyed since 1950" and any progress will be up to the diplomats.

The Korean War fighting, which also involved China, cost hundreds of thousands of lives and ended in 1953 with the declaration of an armistice, not a peace treaty. That has left the peninsula in a technical state of war for decades.

China, Japan and Russia -- North Korea's neighbors -- while offering praise for the summit meeting with South Korea that riveted the world last week, appeared to acknowledge one thing: Now comes the hard part.

In the accord struck Friday, the two sides confirmed a "common goal of realizing, through complete denuclearization, a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula," a commitment North Korea has made before but then flouted by conducting six nuclear tests. The two Korean leaders also pledged to work toward a peace treaty.

The North's neighbors all have stakes in holding Pyongyang to any commitment that may come out of future talks.

China, which has been enforcing U.N. economic sanctions against its longtime but wayward ally North Korea, welcomed the agreement and urged the two Koreas and other countries to maintain the momentum for dialogue and work together to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.

Abe described the commitment as a "positive move toward the comprehensive settlement of various issues surrounding North Korea."

In Russia, the Kremlin hailed the agreement as "very positive." Dmitri Peskov, the spokesman for President Vladimir Putin, said the Russian president "has stressed many times that sustainable conflict resolution on the Korean Peninsula can only be based on direct dialogue of both sides."

But Iran warned the leaders of North and South Korea to keep Trump out of their reconciliation efforts.

"The American government has shown with the Iran nuclear deal that it does not hold to international agreements and is therefore not trustworthy," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghassemi said in Tehran.

Trump has complained bitterly about the 2015 deal, which aims to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon. He has threatened to effectively withdraw from it next month unless its "flaws" are reworked.

North Korea's main newspaper devoted four of its six pages Saturday to the previous day's summit between Kim and Moon. It brightened its usually drab pages with 62 color photographs from the historic event.

It even printed the leaders' joint declaration professing a goal of denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula.

But, like other state-run North Korean media, the newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, gave no hint to its readers whether Kim would genuinely consider giving up his nuclear weapons, or what he might demand in return.

Rather, it focused on Kim's new diplomatic turn. "With his boundlessly noble love for the nation and with his sophisticated political skills, he has laid the groundwork for a turning point in North-South Korean relations," the propaganda-filled Rodong said.

However positive the goals described in the three-page agreement, the critical question remained: Does Kim intend to bargain away his nuclear weapons, or are his diplomatic overtures aimed only at softening his image and easing sanctions against his impoverished country?

The accord set no timetable for denuclearization but said the two sides planned to achieve a permanent peace within the year. Talks to formally end the Korean War would require negotiations involving the main combatants: North and South Korea, China and the United States.

The North Korean media listed denuclearization as the last of three major agenda items from the summit meeting at the border village of Panmunjom -- unlike the South Korean government, which cited it first. The North's coverage described extensively how Kim was spearheading efforts to open "an era of national reconciliation and solidarity, and peace and prosperity" on the divided peninsula.

Still, its coverage of the summit meeting reconfirmed North Korea's dramatic shift from raising tensions through weapons tests to creating a reconciliatory mood through high-profile meetings that would have been unthinkable just several months ago.

Skeptics say Kim's goal remains to be accepted as a nuclear power. He is merely trying to improve ties with South Korea to steer it further from the United States and to escape sanctions that are increasingly hurting the North's economy, they say.

But if Kim intends to win diplomatic recognition, a peace treaty and economic aid from Washington and its allies, as South Korean officials hope he does, trading away his nuclear arsenal is his only bargaining chip. He cannot reveal his hand too soon, they say.

South Korean officials say they have heard directly from Kim a willingness to denuclearize.

In Japan, there was caution about the lack of specifics in the accord. The document fell far short of the Trump administration's demands for the dismantlement of the North's arsenal and of the need for inspections to verify that the weapons no longer exist, officials and commentators said.

The Japanese foreign minister, Taro Kono, called for North Korea to take "concrete actions for the dismantlement of all weapons of mass destruction, including biological and chemical weapons, and ballistic missiles of all ranges in a complete and irreversible manner."

Abe, who has strained relations with South Korea, implied that the new accord may not be too different from a similar commitment in 2007 between a previous South Korean president, Roh Moo-hyun, and Kim Jong Il, the father of the current North Korean leader. That accord fell apart soon after it was signed.

"We would like to think about how we respond to the current statement, analyzing and comparing it with the past statement," Abe said.

Of all the North's neighbors, Japan is perhaps the most uneasy about the process that began at the inter-Korean summit meeting. It fears Washington will agree to trade away the North's long-range intercontinental missiles that can hit the United States, but allow Pyongyang to keep its medium-range missiles, leaving Japan vulnerable.

Abe went out of his way to remind reporters that he had spent 11 hours with Trump this month, insisting that his proximity to the American president meant he had not been left out of the negotiations over North Korea.

In China, the state-run news media stressed the need for the United States to quickly enter the picture and seal the deal.

Information for this article was contributed by Matthew Pennington and staff members of The Associated Press; by Choe Sang-hun and Jane Perlez of The New York Times; and by Gretel Johnston of Deutsche Presse-Agentur. </s> WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Sunday shot back at North Korea’s latest nuclear provocation with a blunt threat, saying the U.S. will answer any North Korean threat with a “massive military response — a response both effective and overwhelming.” While he said America does not seek the “total annihilation” of the North, he added somberly, “We have many options to do so.”

In a brief statement to reporters outside the White House, Mattis said the international community is unified in demanding the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and said the North’s leader, Kim Jong Un, should know that Washington’s commitment to Japan and South Korea is unshakeable.

 Earlier, President Donald Trump raised the stakes in the escalating crisis over North Korea’s nuclear threats, suggesting drastic economic measures against China and criticizing ally South Korea.

With Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at his side, Mattis said, “Any threat to the United States or its territories, including Guam, or our allies will be met with a massive military response — a response both effective and overwhelming.” Those words alone were within the usual bounds of U.S. commentary on answering North Korean aggression. But he seemed to take it a step further with the reference to “total annihilation.”

Mattis, who did not take questions from reporters, said he had attended a “small group” national security meeting with Trump and others. He said the president wanted to be briefed on each of what Mattis called “many military options” for action against North Korea. He did not mention any specific options, but his comment suggested that they discussed everything from a show of force such as an overflight of the peninsula by U.S. bombers to the latest war plan for destroying the North’s weaponry and eliminating its leadership.

“We made clear that we have the ability to defend ourselves and our allies, South Korea and Japan, from any attacks, and our commitments among the allies are ironclad,” he said. The use of Mattis as the president’s spokesman in this circumstance was, by itself, a reflection of the growing risk that the crisis could escalate to military action.

“Kim Jong Un should take heed of the United Nations Security Council’s unified voice – all members unanimously agreed on the threat North Korea poses, and remain unanimous in their commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula – because we are not looking to the total annihilation of a country – namely, North Korea,” Mattis said, reading from a piece of paper. “But, as I said, we have many options to do so.”

North Korea claimed “perfect success” in an underground test of what it called a hydrogen bomb — potentially vastly more destructive than an atomic bomb. It was the North’s sixth nuclear test since 2006, but the first since Trump took office in January.

Trump, asked by a reporter during a trip to church services if he would attack the North, said: “We’ll see.”

No U.S. military action appeared imminent, and the immediate focus appeared to be on ratcheting up economic penalties, which have had little effect thus far. Members of Congress expressed alarm at the North’s test and emphasized strengthening U.S. missile defenses. Leaders in Russia, China and Europe issued condemnations.

Trump said he was meeting at the White House with chief of staff John Kelly, Mattis “and other military leaders.” Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also attended, according to his spokesman.

The precise strength of the underground nuclear explosion had yet to be determined. South Korea’s weather agency said the artificial earthquake caused by the explosion was five times to six times stronger than tremors generated by the North’s previous five tests.

North Korea’s state-run television broadcast a special bulletin to announce the test, and said Kim attended a meeting of the ruling party’s presidium and signed the go-ahead order. Earlier, the party’s newspaper published photos of Kim examining what it said was a nuclear warhead being fitted onto an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Sunday’s detonation builds on recent North Korean advances that include test launches in July of two ICBMs that are believed to be capable of reaching the mainland U.S. The North says its missile development is part of a defensive effort to build a viable nuclear deterrent that can target U.S. cities.

The Arms Control Association said the explosion appeared to produce a yield in excess of 100 kilotons of TNT equivalent, which it said strongly suggests the North tested a high-yield but compact nuclear weapon that could be launched on a missile of intermediate or intercontinental range.

Hans Kristensen, a nuclear weapons expert at the Federation of American Scientists, said the North probably will need to do more tests before achieving a functioning hydrogen bomb design.

Beyond the science of the blast, North Korea’s accelerating push to field a nuclear weapon that can target all of the United States is creating political complications for the U.S. as it seeks to balance resolve with reassurance to allies that Washington will uphold its decadeslong commitment to deter nuclear attack on South Korea and Japan.

That is why some questioned Trump’s jab Sunday at South Korea. He tweeted that Seoul is finding that its “talk of appeasement” will not work. The North Koreans, he added, “only understand one thing,” implying military force might be required. The U.S. has about 28,000 troops stationed in South Korea and is obliged by treaty to defend it in the event of war.

Patrick Cronin, an Asia expert with the Center for a New American Security, said Trump’s comment on South Korea was probably “intended to stiffen the spine of an ally.” He said he agreed with the intention.

“I think Washington is very serious about showing some unexpected resolve,” he said. “We need our ally and we need to remain ironclad. But at the same time, we can’t afford South Korea to go weak in facing down this growing danger.”

Trump also suggested putting more pressure on China, the North’s patron for many decades and a vital U.S. trading partner, in hopes of persuading Beijing to exert more effective leverage on its neighbor. Trump tweeted that the U.S. is considering “stopping all trade with any country doing business with North Korea.” Such a halt would be radical. The U.S. imports about $40 billion in goods a month from China, North Korea’s main commercial partner.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was calling counterparts in Asia, and Trump’s treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, said he was putting together proposed new sanctions for Trump to consider that would seek to cut off trade with North Korea.

It’s unclear what kind of penalties might make a difference. Lassina Zerbo, head of the U.N. test ban treaty organization, said sanctions already imposed against North Korea aren’t working.

China’s official Xinhua News Agency said President Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, meeting on the sidelines of a Beijing-led economic summit, agreed “to adhere to the goal of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, have close communication and coordination and properly respond” to the test.

Experts have questioned whether the North has gone too far down the nuclear road to continue pushing for a denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, an Obama administration policy goal still embraced by Trump’s White House.

“Denuclearization is not a viable U.S. policy goal,” said Richard Fontaine, president of the Center for a New American Security, but neither should the U.S. accept North Korea as a nuclear power. “We should keep denuclearization as a long-term aspiration, but recognize privately that it’s unachievable anytime soon.”

Trump warned last month that the U.S. military was “locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely” and that the U.S. would unleash “fire and fury” on the North if it continued to threaten America. The bellicose words followed threats from North Korea to launch ballistic missiles toward the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam, intending to create “enveloping fire” near the military hub that’s home to U.S. bombers and other aircraft.

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WASHINGTON -- U.S. Defence Secretary Jim Mattis on Sunday shot back at North Korea's latest nuclear provocation with a blunt threat, saying the U.S. will answer any North Korean threat with a "massive military response -- a response both effective and overwhelming." While he said America does not seek the "total annihilation" of the North, he added somberly, "We have many options to do so."

In a brief statement to reporters outside the White House, Mattis said the international community is unified in demanding the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula and said the North's leader, Kim Jong Un, should know that Washington's commitment to Japan and South Korea is unshakeable.

Earlier, President Donald Trump raised the stakes in the escalating crisis over North Korea's nuclear threats, suggesting drastic economic measures against China and criticizing ally South Korea.

With Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, at his side, Mattis said, "Any threat to the United States or its territories, including Guam, or our allies will be met with a massive military response -- a response both effective and overwhelming." Those words alone were within the usual bounds of U.S. commentary on answering North Korean aggression. But he seemed to take it a step further with the reference to "total annihilation."

Mattis, who did not take questions from reporters, said he had attended a "small group" national security meeting with Trump and others. He said the president wanted to be briefed on each of what Mattis called "many military options" for action against North Korea. He did not mention any specific options, but his comment suggested that they discussed everything from a show of force such as an overflight of the peninsula by U.S. bombers to the latest war plan for destroying the North's weaponry and eliminating its leadership.

"We made clear that we have the ability to defend ourselves and our allies, South Korea and Japan, from any attacks, and our commitments among the allies are ironclad," he said. The use of Mattis as the president's spokesman in this circumstance was, by itself, a reflection of the growing risk that the crisis could escalate to military action.

"Kim Jong Un should take heed of the United Nations Security Council's unified voice - all members unanimously agreed on the threat North Korea poses, and remain unanimous in their commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula - because we are not looking to the total annihilation of a country - namely, North Korea," Mattis said, reading from a piece of paper. "But, as I said, we have many options to do so."

North Korea claimed "perfect success" in an underground test of what it called a hydrogen bomb -- potentially vastly more destructive than an atomic bomb. It was the North's sixth nuclear test since 2006, but the first since Trump took office in January.

Trump, asked by a reporter during a trip to church services if he would attack the North, said: "We'll see."

No U.S. military action appeared imminent, and the immediate focus appeared to be on ratcheting up economic penalties, which have had little effect thus far. Members of Congress expressed alarm at the North's test and emphasized strengthening U.S. missile defences. Leaders in Russia, China and Europe issued condemnations.

Trump said he was meeting at the White House with chief of staff John Kelly, Mattis "and other military leaders." Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, also attended, according to his spokesman.

The precise strength of the underground nuclear explosion had yet to be determined. South Korea's weather agency said the artificial earthquake caused by the explosion was five times to six times stronger than tremors generated by the North's previous five tests.

North Korea's state-run television broadcast a special bulletin to announce the test, and said Kim attended a meeting of the ruling party's presidium and signed the go-ahead order. Earlier, the party's newspaper published photos of Kim examining what it said was a nuclear warhead being fitted onto an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Sunday's detonation builds on recent North Korean advances that include test launches in July of two ICBMs that are believed to be capable of reaching the mainland U.S. The North says its missile development is part of a defensive effort to build a viable nuclear deterrent that can target U.S. cities.

The Arms Control Association said the explosion appeared to produce a yield in excess of 100 kilotons of TNT equivalent, which it said strongly suggests the North tested a high-yield but compact nuclear weapon that could be launched on a missile of intermediate or intercontinental range.

Hans Kristensen, a nuclear weapons expert at the Federation of American Scientists, said the North probably will need to do more tests before achieving a functioning hydrogen bomb design.

Beyond the science of the blast, North Korea's accelerating push to field a nuclear weapon that can target all of the United States is creating political complications for the U.S. as it seeks to balance resolve with reassurance to allies that Washington will uphold its decadeslong commitment to deter nuclear attack on South Korea and Japan.

That is why some questioned Trump's jab Sunday at South Korea. He tweeted that Seoul is finding that its "talk of appeasement" will not work. The North Koreans, he added, "only understand one thing," implying military force might be required. The U.S. has about 28,000 troops stationed in South Korea and is obliged by treaty to defend it in the event of war.

Patrick Cronin, an Asia expert with the Center for a New American Security, said Trump's comment on South Korea was probably "intended to stiffen the spine of an ally." He said he agreed with the intention.

"I think Washington is very serious about showing some unexpected resolve," he said. "We need our ally and we need to remain ironclad. But at the same time, we can't afford South Korea to go weak in facing down this growing danger."

Trump also suggested putting more pressure on China, the North's patron for many decades and a vital U.S. trading partner, in hopes of persuading Beijing to exert more effective leverage on its neighbour. Trump tweeted that the U.S. is considering "stopping all trade with any country doing business with North Korea." Such a halt would be radical. The U.S. imports about $40 billion in goods a month from China, North Korea's main commercial partner.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was calling counterparts in Asia, and Trump's treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, said he was putting together proposed new sanctions for Trump to consider that would seek to cut off trade with North Korea.

It's unclear what kind of penalties might make a difference. Lassina Zerbo, head of the U.N. test ban treaty organization, said sanctions already imposed against North Korea aren't working.

China's official Xinhua News Agency said President Xi Jinping and Russian leader Vladimir Putin, meeting on the sidelines of a Beijing-led economic summit, agreed "to adhere to the goal of the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, have close communication and co-ordination and properly respond" to the test.

Experts have questioned whether the North has gone too far down the nuclear road to continue pushing for a denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, an Obama administration policy goal still embraced by Trump's White House.

"Denuclearization is not a viable U.S. policy goal," said Richard Fontaine, president of the Center for a New American Security, but neither should the U.S. accept North Korea as a nuclear power. "We should keep denuclearization as a long-term aspiration, but recognize privately that it's unachievable anytime soon."

Trump warned last month that the U.S. military was "locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely" and that the U.S. would unleash "fire and fury" on the North if it continued to threaten America. The bellicose words followed threats from North Korea to launch ballistic missiles toward the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam, intending to create "enveloping fire" near the military hub that's home to U.S. bombers and other aircraft.

Associated Press writers Eric Talmadge in Tokyo contributed to this report. </s> WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis spoke on Saturday with their South Korean counterparts after the historic meeting between leaders of the two Koreas, and Trump said “things are going very well” as he prepares for an expected summit with the North’s Kim Jong Un.

Mattis and Defense Minister Song Young-moo said they were committed to “a diplomatic resolution that achieves complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization” of the North, according to the Pentagon’s chief spokeswoman, Dana W. White. Mattis also reaffirmed “the ironclad U.S. commitment” to defend its ally “using the full spectrum of U.S. capabilities.”

Trump tweeted Saturday that he had “a long and very good talk” with President Moon Jae-in. He also said he updated Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, about “the ongoing negotiations” for an anticipated summit with Kim, tentatively scheduled for May or early June.

Moon and Kim have pledged to seek a formal end to the Korean War, fought from 1950 to 1953, by year’s end and to rid the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons. Trump has said he’s looking forward to the meeting with Kim and that it “should be quite something.”

“Things are going very well, time and location of meeting with North Korea is being set,” Trump tweeted. A statement from the White House describing the call between Trump and Moon also referred to the North’s future being contingent upon “complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization.”

Trump is claiming credit for the Korean summit, but now faces a burden in helping turn the Korean leaders’ bold but vague vision for peace into reality after more than six decades of hostility.

Trump must contend with suspicions about his own suitability to conduct that kind of war-and-peace negotiation and succeed where his predecessors have failed, and whether Kim really is willing to give up the nuclear weapons his nation took decades acquiring.”It is still unclear whether North Korea still believes that it can have its cake and eat it too,” said Victor Cha, who until January had been in the running to become Trump’s choice for ambassador to South Korea.

At a White House news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday, Trump basked in the afterglow of the meeting between Kim and Moon, and said he has a responsibility to try to achieve peace and denuclearization.

“And if I can’t do it, it’ll be a very tough time for a lot of countries, and a lot of people. It’s certainly something that I hope I can do for the world,” he said.

Moon and Kim have not specified what steps would be taken to formally end the war or eliminate nuclear weapons. Now the pressure to deliver results, at least on the allies’ side, has shifted to Trump.

The president pushed back against critics who say he’s being manipulated by Kim, who has abruptly shifted to diplomacy after last year’s full-scale push to become a nuclear power that could threaten the U.S. mainland.

“I don’t think he’s ever had this enthusiasm for somebody, for them wanting to make a deal,” Trump said in the Oval Office. “We’re not going to be played, OK. We’re going to hopefully make a deal. The United States in the past has been played like a fiddle.”New Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who as CIA director met Kim four weeks ago in North Korea, told reporters in Brussels that he got the impression that Kim was “serious” about negotiating on denuclearization because of the Trump-led economic pressure campaign.

But Pompeo added a word of caution: “I am always careful. There is a lot of history here. Promises have been made, hopes have been raised and then dashed.”

North Korea has already called a halt to nuclear and long-range missile tests, which has helped dial down tensions significantly.

North Korea was hit with unprecedented economic restrictions during 2017, when the U.S. and North Korean leaders traded threats while Kim pushed his nation to the verge of being able to fire a nuclear-tipped missile at the U.S. mainland.

The diplomatic climate has changed dramatically this year, as Kim has ended his international seclusion, reaching out to South Korea, the U.S., and China.

Mattis has said the U.S. is “optimistic right now that there’s opportunity here that we have never enjoyed since 1950” and any progress will be up to the diplomats. He was referring to the year the Korean War broke out.

The fighting, which also involved China, cost hundreds of thousands of lives and ended with the declaration of an armistice, not a peace treaty. That has left the peninsula in a technical state of war for decades. </s> The U.S. Defense Department announced Friday that it had “indefinitely suspended select” military exercises with South Korea less than two weeks after President Donald Trump’s historic meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore.

“To support implementing the outcomes of the Singapore Summit, and in coordination with our Republic of Korea ally, Secretary Mattis has indefinitely suspended select exercises,” Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said in a statement referring to Defense Secretary Jim Mattis. “This includes suspending FREEDOM GUARDIAN along with two Korean Marine Exchange Program training exercises scheduled to occur in the next three months.

The statement left the door open to further suspensions of joint exercises, as talks with Pyongyang progress and as speculation grows that U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will make his third visit to the North in the coming week.

“In support of upcoming diplomatic negotiations led by Secretary Pompeo, additional decisions will depend upon the DPRK continuing to have productive negotiations in good faith,” the statement said, using the acronym for the North’s formal name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

The decision was reached after Mattis, Pompeo, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joe Dunford, and national security adviser John Bolton met to discuss efforts to implement the results of the Singapore meeting, the statement added.

The North has repeatedly called for an end to the joint exercises, blasting them as a rehearsal for invasion.

The Korean Marine Exchange Program training exercises are part of the Okinawa-based III Marine Expeditionary Force’s “dedicated effort to learning and sharing tactics” with South Korean Marine Corps, according to the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. It said the exercises focus on “building personal, enduring relationships” and becoming “more proficient partners.”

Trump abruptly said that he would halt “provocative” U.S.-South Korean “war games” after his summit with Kim on June 12. The decision was formally announced by the Pentagon on Monday. South Korea’s Defense Ministry simultaneously confirmed the suspension of the Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercises. Last year, 17,500 U.S. troops and more than 50,000 South Korean troops joined those drills, although the exercise is mostly focused on computerized simulations rather than field exercises.

The decision, which apparently came without consultations with Seoul or the Pentagon, surprised many in South Korea and the United States who see training as a central pillar of their countries’ decadeslong military alliance dating to the 1950-53 Korean War.

The move has also alarmed Tokyo, which fears the decision could weaken the regional deterrence effect provided by the U.S. military. </s> President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Jim Mattis spoke on Saturday with their South Korean counterparts after the historic meeting between leaders of the two Koreas, and Trump said "things are going very well" as he prepares for an expected summit with the North's Kim Jong Un.

Mattis and Defense Minister Song Young-moo said they were committed to "a diplomatic resolution that achieves complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization" of the North, according to the Pentagon's chief spokeswoman, Dana W. White. Mattis also reaffirmed "the ironclad U.S. commitment" to defend its ally "using the full spectrum of U.S. capabilities. "

Trump tweeted Saturday that he had "a long and very good talk" with President Moon Jae-in. He also said he updated Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, about "the ongoing negotiations" for an anticipated summit with Kim, tentatively scheduled for May or early June.

Moon and Kim have pledged to seek a formal end to the Korean War, fought from 1950 to 1953, by year's end and to rid the Korean Peninsula of nuclear weapons. Trump has said he's looking forward to the meeting with Kim and that it "should be quite something."

"Things are going very well, time and location of meeting with North Korea is being set," Trump tweeted.

Trump is claiming credit for the Korean summit, but now faces a burden in helping turn the Korean leaders' bold but vague vision for peace into reality after more than six decades of hostility.

Trump must contend with suspicions about his own suitability to conduct that kind of war-and-peace negotiation and succeed where his predecessors have failed, and whether Kim really is willing to give up the nuclear weapons his nation took decades acquiring.

"It is still unclear whether North Korea still believes that it can have its cake and eat it too," said Victor Cha, who until January had been in the running to become Trump's choice for ambassador to South Korea.

At a White House news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday, Trump basked in the afterglow of the meeting between Kim and Moon, and said he has a responsibility to try to achieve peace and denuclearization.

"And if I can't do it, it'll be a very tough time for a lot of countries, and a lot of people. It's certainly something that I hope I can do for the world," he said.

Moon and Kim have not specified what steps would be taken to formally end the war or eliminate nuclear weapons. Now the pressure to deliver results, at least on the allies' side, has shifted to Trump.

The president pushed back against critics who say he's being manipulated by Kim, who has abruptly shifted to diplomacy after last year's full-scale push to become a nuclear power that could threaten the U.S. mainland.

"I don't think he's ever had this enthusiasm for somebody, for them wanting to make a deal," Trump said in the Oval Office. "We're not going to be played, OK. We're going to hopefully make a deal. The United States in the past has been played like a fiddle."

New Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who as CIA director met Kim four weeks ago in North Korea, told reporters in Brussels that he got the impression that Kim was "serious" about negotiating on denuclearization because of the Trump-led economic pressure campaign.

But Pompeo added a word of caution: "I am always careful. There is a lot of history here. Promises have been made, hopes have been raised and then dashed."

North Korea has already called a halt to nuclear and long-range missile tests, which has helped dial down tensions significantly.

North Korea was hit with unprecedented economic restrictions during 2017, when the U.S. and North Korean leaders traded threats while Kim pushed his nation to the verge of being able to fire a nuclear-tipped missile at the U.S. mainland.

The diplomatic climate has changed dramatically this year, as Kim has ended his international seclusion, reaching out to South Korea, the U.S., and China.

Mattis has said the U.S. is "optimistic right now that there's opportunity here that we have never enjoyed since 1950" and any progress will be up to the diplomats. He was referring to the year the Korean War broke out.

The fighting, which also involved China, cost hundreds of thousands of lives and ended with the declaration of an armistice, not a peace treaty. That has left the peninsula in a technical state of war for decades. </s> US President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe today condemned for its "provocative and destabilising" behaviour, after the reclusive nation carried out its biggest nuclear test.

 

 claimed yesterday it had successfully tested a hydrogen bomb meant to be loaded onto an intercontinental ballistic missile. It was Pyongyang's sixth, and the most powerful nuclear test, which was set to raise tension in the region.



The said that the two leaders spoke over phone to discuss the North Korean actions as they pledged to continue "close cooperation"."The two leaders condemned North Korea's continued destabilising and provocative actions, confirmed the two countries' ironclad mutual defence commitments, and pledged to continue close cooperation," the said in a readout of the call.During the call, Trump reaffirmed the commitment of the United States to defending its homeland, territories, and allies using the full range of diplomatic, conventional, and nuclear capabilities at its disposal.Earlier in the day, US Defence Secretary James Mattis warned of "massive military response" to any threats from"We made clear that we have the ability to defend ourselves and our allies, and Japan, from any attack. And our commitment among the allies is ironclad: Any threat to the United States or its territories, including Guam, or our allies will be met with a massive military response, a response both effective and overwhelming," Mattis told reporters at theHe made a brief statement to reporters outside the West Wing of the after Trump held a meeting with a small group of his national security team."We have many military options. The president wanted to be briefed on each one of them," he said."Kim Jong Un should take heed of the United Nations Security Council's unified voice -- all members unanimously agreed on the threat poses, and remain unanimous in their commitment to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula - because we are not looking to the total annihilation of a country, namely, North Korea," Mattis said.Senator Marco Rubio said North Korea's threatening actions today are a sober reminder that all nations, including China, must do everything in their power to stop and reverse Pyongyang's growing nuclear and missile programs."We cannot live in a world held hostage by Kim Jong Un's nuclear blackmail, and I support US-led efforts to maximise pressure against the North Korean regime and its foreign enablers," Rubio said. </s> Mattis, who is to visit South Korea on Thursday, reaffirmed to South Korean Defence Minister Han Min-koo the U.S. commitment to defend the country and "provide extended deterrence using the full range of U.S. capabilities," the Pentagon said in a statement.

The South Korean Defence Ministry said in a statement the two sides had agreed to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system in South Korea as planned to defend against North Korea's nuclear and ballistic capabilities.

China has objected to THAAD, saying it will destabilise the regional security balance, leading to calls from some South Korean opposition leaders to delay or cancel it.

Mattis's visit to the region comes amid reports that the North may be readying to test a new ballistic missile in what could be an early challenge for of U.S. President Donald Trump's administration.

The North also appears to have restarted operation of a reactor at its main Yongbyon nuclear facility that produces plutonium that can be used for its nuclear weapons programme, according to a U.S. think tank.

North Korea has carried out a series of nuclear and missile tests in defiance of U.N sanctions. It conducted its fifth nuclear test in September. North and South are technically still at war because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

Mattis also met Jordan's King Abdullah at the Pentagon and expressed his deep appreciation for Jordan's contributions to the fight against Islamic State, the Pentagon statement said.
United States Defense Secretary James Mattis and South Korea Defense Minister Song Young-moo say they are committed to "a diplomatic resolution that achieves complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization" of North Korea, according to a Pentagon spokesperson. Mattis repeats the United States' "ironclad" commitment to defend its ally South Korea "using the full spectrum of U.S. capabilities."