US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Saturday that North Korea and its nuclear weapons program pose a “threat to us all,”, calling on the international community to work together on the issue.
“It is therefore imperative that we do our part each of us to fulfill our obligations and work together to support our shared goal of denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula,” Mattis said in a policy speech at the Shangri-La defense summit in Singapore.
Pyongyang on Monday test-fired another rocket, the latest in a series of launches and atomic tests.
“The regime’s actions are manifestly illegal under international law,” Mattis said.
“There is a strong international consensus that the current situation cannot continue. China’s declared policy of a denuclearized Korean Peninsula is our policy as well, and also that of Japan and the Republic of Korea.”
US President Donald Trump — who frequently denounced China on the campaign trail — has turned to Beijing to help rein in North Korea’s weapons program.
Mattis’s challenge on his visit is to reassure allies that America can apply pressure on China over its claims in the South China Sea, while at the same time convincing Beijing that controlling North Korea is in its own security interests.
“The Trump administration is encouraged by China’s renewed commitment to work with the international community toward denuclearization,” Mattis said.
Source: AFP
