North Korea: US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis says threat posed by Kim Jong-un accelerating

This is the best tl;dr I could make, original reduced by 60%. (I'm a bot)

US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis says North Korea is posing an increasing threat to Seoul and the world through its "Illegal and unnecessary" missile program.

General Mattis had been at pains during his week-long trip to Asia to stress that diplomacy was the preferred course for the US, a message he returned to after top-level military talks in South Korea.

"Make no mistake, any attack on the United States, or our allies, will be defeated. And any use of nuclear weapons by the North will be met with a massive military response that is both effective and overwhelming," he Mattis said.

Tensions between North Korea and the US have been building after a series of nuclear and missile tests by Pyongyang and bellicose verbal exchanges between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump.

The CIA has said North Korea could be only months away from developing the ability to hit the US with nuclear weapons, a scenario Mr Trump has vowed to prevent.

Mr Moon, after talks with Mr Mattis on Friday, said the "Aggressive deployment" of US strategic assets in the region, which have included overflights by US bombers, had been effective in deterring the North Korean threat.

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