Nuclear attack on US or allies would end Kim regime, says defense secretary - The Guardian US

The US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, said connected Thursday immoderate atomic onslaught connected the US oregon its allies by North Korea would “result successful the extremity of the Kim regime”.

Kim Jong-un’s authorities successful Pyongyang has successful caller days mounted a fig of rocket tests. The South Korean subject said a trial of an intercontinental ballistic rocket connected Thursday may person ended successful failure. Japan called the motorboat “outrageous and perfectly intolerable”.

According to a associated communique released by the US Department of Defense, during his gathering with the South Korean defence minister, Lee Jong-sup, Austin said: “Any atomic onslaught against the United States oregon its allies and partners, including the usage of non-strategic atomic weapons, is unacceptable and volition effect successful the extremity of the Kim regime.”

Similar connection was included successful the US National Defense Strategy, which was released past week.

That document said, successful part: “Our strategy for North Korea recognises the menace posed by its nuclear, chemical, rocket and accepted capabilities, and successful peculiar the request to marque wide to the Kim authorities the dire consequences should it usage atomic weapons … determination is nary script successful which the Kim authorities could employment atomic weapons and survive.”

Austin, a retired US service wide and the archetypal African American caput of defense, spoke to reporters astatine the Pentagon alongside Lee.

“Minister Lee and I had an outstanding treatment today,” Austin said. “We talked astir however the DPRK [North Korea] has continued provocations and destabilising actions, and astatine this clip of heightened tension, our confederation is ironclad.

“The United States remains afloat committed to the defence [of South Korea]. Our extended deterrence committedness is steadfast and includes a afloat scope of our atomic and accepted and rocket defence capabilities.”

He said the 2 countries planned to instrumentality to large-scale subject exercises connected the peninsula. The Biden medication has taken specified steps aft 4 years successful which Donald Trump placed unprecedented accent connected relations betwixt Seoul and Washington, saying helium wanted South Korea to wage for US subject assistance that has been successful spot since the Korean warfare of 1950-53.

Trump, whose cavalier treatment of matters of atomic argumentation has been extensively reported, met repeatedly with Kim, staging high-profile summits that produced small tangible benefit.

At the Pentagon, Austin said the US was “committed to gathering connected on [the Biden administration’s] efforts to fortify integrated deterrence and to guarantee that this confederation continues to bolster information and stableness connected the Korean peninsula and passim the Indo-Pacific”.