US warns North Korea of ‘massive military response’

TIL Desk/World/Washington/ The United States will launch a ‘massive military response’ to any threats from North Korea, Defence Secretary James Mattis said on Sunday in a blunt warning to the reclusive nation after it carried out its biggest nuclear test.

North Korea claimed on Sunday 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.

“We made clear that we have the ability to defend ourselves and our allies, South Korea 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 the White House.

He made a brief statement to reporters outside the West Wing of the White House after a small group of national security members had a meeting on Sunday with US President Donald Trump and the Vice President Mike Pence about the latest provocation on the Korean Peninsula. “We have many military options. The president wanted to be briefed on each one of them,” he said.