Military intervention against North Korea would have “devastating consequences”, NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg warned today, after US President Donald Trump said diplomatic efforts had failed.
Tensions over North Korea’s weapons programmes have soared in recent months, with Pyongyang launching a flurry of missiles and conducting its sixth and most powerful nuclear test last month in defiance of international sanctions.
Trump’s continued threats of military action against Pyongyang to tame its weapons ambitions have fuelled fears of conflict on the Korean peninsula and next week the US and South Korea will begin a major naval drill as a show of force against the North.Stoltenberg, who will visit South Korea and Japan in the coming weeks as a show of support, stressed that Washington had the right to defend itself and its allies, but called for greater diplomatic efforts.
“The use of military force will have devastating consequences, I think nobody really wants that, therefore we need to continue to push for a negotiated solution,” Stoltenberg said in an interview at NATO HQ in Brussels.
“The US has the right to defend itself, to defend its allies, but at same time I am absolutely certain no one wants a military solution, so we still see a united effort to try to step up the pressure against North Korea.”
Trump met his national security team on Tuesday and discussed a “range of options” to respond to Pyongyang’s repeated recent nuclear and ballistic missile tests.
The meeting came days after Trump, who last month threatened to “destroy” North Korea, said on Twitter that years of talks with Pyongyang had achieved nothing and “only one thing will work”.
