DEFENSE/JAMES MATTIS/NORTH KOREA: “Defense Secretary Jim Mattis denounced North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un’s regime as a threat to regional security during a visit to the demilitarized zone that divides the two Koreas, even as he reaffirmed the U.S.’s commitment to diplomacy.
‘North Korean provocations continue to threaten regional and global security despite unanimous condemnation by the United Nations Security Council,’ Mr. Mattis said in prepared remarks as he overlooked North Korea with Seoul’s defense minister at his side.
Mr. Mattis, making his first trip to the DMZ as defense secretary, reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to South Korea’s security. He also said that Washington’s goal ‘is not war, but rather the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.’…
The trip by Mr. Mattis, who is also scheduled to meet with South Korean President Moon Jae-in at the presidential office on Friday, comes two weeks ahead of President Donald Trump’s trip to the region, where he is expected to visit the newly constructed $11 billion U.S. military base at Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul.”
-Gordon Lubold and Johnathan Cheng, “Defense Secretary Mattis Denounces North Korea on Visit to DMZ,” The Wall Street Journal online, Oct. 27, 2017 01:13am