Mattis hints at military options on N.Korea, no details

WASHINGTON - 19 September 2017: U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis hinted on Monday about military options to address the crisis in North Korea that might spare Seoul from a brutal counterattack, but he declined to say what kinds of options those were or if they even involved use of lethal force.

Asked whether there were any military options the United States could take with North Korea that would not put Seoul at grave risk, Mattis said: "Yes there are. But I will not go into details."

Despite heated rhetoric in the United States and North Korea, there has been no positioning of U.S. military assets to suggest a military conflict is imminent. Mattis also told reporters that he believed diplomacy and sanctions were succeeding in putting pressure on Pyongyang.