BANGKOK -- U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis will visit the Korean Peninsula on Friday, as questions remain over the efficacy of diplomacy as the U.S. and its allies try to persuade Pyongyang to halt and dismantle its nuclear weapons program.
Mattis' second trip as Pentagon boss to Seoul will take place after his consultations with Asian partners on a unified approach to resolve the North Korea crisis.
In the Philippines, his Japanese counterpart spoke of an "unprecedented, critical and imminent" threat posed by the North's repeated demonstrations of its ability to launch an intercontinental-range missile, potentially armed with a nuclear warhead. Twice, in August and September, North Korean missiles overflew Japan's northern Hokkaido Island, triggering alarms and warnings for citizens to take cover.
As North Korea's capabilities rush toward putting the U.S. mainland in range, Mattis has stuck to the American diplomacy and pressure campaign led by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.
The goal is to compel the North to a complete and irreversible removal of its nuclear arsenal.
"Everyone is out for a peaceful resolution. No one's rushing for war," Mattis told reporters Wednesday on a flight to Thailand. From there, he is traveling on to South Korea.
But there are increasing suggestions of possible military confrontation. Trump's national security adviser, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, said last week, "We are in a race to resolve this short of military action," adding, "We are running out of time."
Michael Swaine, a longtime Asia specialist at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said that while he is hopeful of averting conflict, "I don't see any clear signs that there is progress in either coercing the North Koreans into starting to talk about denuclearization or finding some other path toward some kind of engagement with North Korea."
"Recent months have shown a worsening of the relationship between the U.S. and North Korea that is very troubling to me," he said. "I'm concerned about the president's upcoming trip to Asia where the North Koreans could use this as an opportunity to conduct some additional test."
President Donald Trump will visit South Korea next month. Aides say he will not travel to the Demilitarized Zone, the internationally recognized buffer zone that has separated the two Koreas since the Korean War. The fighting ended in 1953 with an armistice, not a peace treaty, meaning the United States and North Korea are still technically at war.
Trump has mocked North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as "Little Rocket Man" and threatened to unleash "fire and fury" on Pyongyang if its leaders do not abandon their nuclear weapons.
Kim seems undaunted by threats and unresponsive to diplomatic overtures. He has traded insults with Trump and kept his country marching toward a capability to strike any American city with a nuclear weapon. Trump has said he will never allow the North to reach that point.
In Seoul, Mattis will attend annual meetings Saturday with senior South Korean government officials and assess plans for countering the North's threats. He'll also reaffirm America's promise to defend the South against any attack.
The U.S. has about 28,500 troops in South Korea, including at Osan air base, where the Air Force maintains fighter aircraft.
Information for this article was contributed by Matthew Pennington of The Associated Press.
A Section on 10/26/2017