WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Military options against North Korea are a “long way away,” Britain’s defense minister Michael Fallon said Friday after meeting with Pentagon chief Jim Mattis.
“First of all, we are a long way away from looking at military options,” Fallon told a Washington think tank when asked whether NATO allies could support the United States in deterring North Korea’s weapons program.
“This is not just a threat to the United States, nor should the United States be expected to deal with this entirely on its own. This is a threat to the international community,” he added, pointing to improved sanctions enforcement.
North Korea on Tuesday for the first time tested an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the United States, with Alaska now within range.
Ahead of their Pentagon meeting, Mattis told reporters the effort to halt Kim Jong-Un’s missile program was being led by diplomatic and economic pressure.
On Thursday, Mattis said Pyongyang’s ICBM capability doesn’t “in itself (bring) us closer to war.”
Fallon told Mattis at the Pentagon that “the dangers are increasing from North Korea, whose recent provocation underscored the need to impose a higher price on this rogue regime, a problem that is not just the United States’ alone, but a problem for us all.”
© Agence France-Presse