North Korea on Verge of Catastrophe

During an interview that aired on CNN Wednesday, an official representing North Korea’s government, Ri Yong Pil, told the U.S. it must take the North Korean test threat “literally.” 

As U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis visited the Demilitarized Zone that divides South Korea from North Korea on Friday, he decried Pyongyang’s recent actions. But he also emphasized that the U.S. desires a “diplomatic solution” to the two nation’s differences.

“North Korean provocations continue to threaten regional and world peace, and despite unanimous condemnation by the United Nations’ Security Council, they still proceed,” Mattis said. “As Secretary of State [Rex] Tillerson has made clear our goal is not war but rather the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.”

The U.S. and North Korea have been enemies for over half a century, but tensions have been particularly high in recent months as Pyongyang has ramped up its long-range missile tests and refused to give in to global pressure to end its nuclear program. 

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