While the military option is one of many alternatives on the table, the U.S. remains committed to resolving problems with North Korea peacefully, a senior State Department official revealed in Japan Thursday.
The media has in recent weeks been regularly reporting rumors that the Trump administration is actively considering a “bloody nose” strike on North Korea, and while that may be one of many strategies available, Joseph Yun, a special representative on North Korea, says the U.S. is still a long way off from using military force against North Korea.
“Our policy is very much for the peaceful resolution of the North Korean nuclear crisis,” Yun told reporters, “We’ve said over and over again that what we want to see is dialogue. Having said that, we also have said that all options are on the table and by all options, it has to include military options.”
“I don’t believe we are close to it,” he explained, emphasizing that a peaceful resolution is the preferred choice for dealing with North Korea.
During his State of the Union address, President Donald Trump highlighted the “depraved” nature of the North Korean regime, which led some observers to determine that the president seeks to paint the regime as evil to make a military conflict easier to sell to the American people. Similar assessments were presented in the wake of Trump’s address in South Korea last year.
Yun celebrated the dialogue between the North and South, which began earlier this month, but he made it clear that any negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang would need to “be about steps North Korea would take toward denuclearization.”
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