WASHINGTON – The United States and North Korea are closer than ever to anuclear war over Pyongyang’s missile and nuclear weapons program, warns aformer chief of the US military.
Retired Admiral Mike Mullen, the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs ofStaff, told ABC News on Sunday that resolving the standoff betweenWashington and Pyongyang through diplomacy was not going to be an easy job.
“We’re actually closer in my view to a nuclear war with North Korea and inthat region than we’ve ever been,” he said.
“I don’t see the opportunities how to solve this diplomatically at thisparticular point,” he added.A file photo of retired US admiral Mike Mullen, the former Chairman of theJoint Chiefs of Staff.
At the peak of the conflict earlier this year, US President Donald Trumpstated that he would use “fire and fury” to “totally destroy North Korea,”referring to the country’s leader Kim Jong-un as a “madman” and “littlerocket man.”
Threatening to destroy the US Pacific territory of Guam, the Korean leaderhit back by calling Trump a “dotard.”
After its failure to stop the North’s frequent test-launches of ballisticmissiles, Washington stepped up military drills off the Korean Peninsula.American military forces even simulated capturing North Korea’s nuclearweapons in one of the war games, which involved troops from Japan and SouthKorea as well.
North Korean leaders have denounced the joint military activities asrehearsals for an invasion but the US and the South insist that they aredefensive in nature.
Mullen said the future of the conflict depended largely on China’s actionsas North Korea’s closest ally, which has been under pressure from Trump toincrease economic pressure on Pyongyang.
“Well I think President Trump has made China move more than they have inthe past. Whether they will continue to do that, to help resolve this, isthe open question,” Mullen said. “And I think a real measure of how thisall comes out is whether China is going to commit to a peaceful resolutionhere.”
After being hit with yet another round of economic sanctions by the UnitedNations Security Council, North Korea said the move amounted to an “act ofwar.”
Following the UNSC resolution, which was drafted by the US, Trump tweeted,“The World wants Peace, not Death!”