NATIONAL SECURITY/NORTH KOREA/NUCLEAR/SOUTH KOREA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “The United States’ top general and South Korea’s president both said on Monday [8-14-17] that they hoped to avoid war with North Korea over its nuclear weapons, with the American commander stressing that the Pentagon was preparing military options only as a last resort.
In a meeting with President Moon Jae-in of South Korea, whose country has been alarmed by President Trump’s recent threats to Pyongyang, Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the United States wanted to resolve the standoff with diplomacy and sanctions.
‘The United States military’s priority is to support our government’s efforts to achieve the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula through diplomatic and economic pressure,’ General Dunford was quoted as saying in a Korean-language statement released by Mr. Moon’s office after the meeting. ‘We are preparing a military option in case such efforts fail.’
Before the meeting, Mr. Moon issued one of his strongest statements yet against armed conflict. ‘Our national interest is peace, and there should never be war on the Korean Peninsula again,’ Mr. Moon was quoted as saying in a meeting with his senior staff. ‘No matter what it takes, the North Korean nuclear problem must be resolved peacefully.’
Also on Monday, China, North Korea’s main trading partner, announced that it would begin enforcing tough new United Nations sanctions against Pyongyang on Tuesday.”
-Choe Sang-Hun, “Military Options Are a Last Resort, Top U.S. General Tells South Korea,” The New York Times online, Aug. 14, 2017