Mattis vows ‘ironclad’ commitment to South Korean security

Defense Secretary James Mattis told South Korea that the U.S. has an “ironclad” commitment to South Korea on Thursday as Washington and Pyongyang continue to hammer out the details of the denuclearization agreement.

“U.S. commitment to the Republic of Korea remains ironclad and the U.S. will continue to use the full range of diplomatic and military capabilities to uphold this commitment,” Mattis said prior to a meeting with his South Korean counterpart, Song Young-moo in Seoul, according to Reuters. 

“And this includes maintaining the current U.S. force levels on the Korean peninsula,” he continued. 

Mattis said that U.S. and South Korean forces would be “united, vigilant and ready,” adding that the decision to put off its joint military drills with South Korea would make dialogue with North Korea easier. 

“The two ministers agreed to continue exploring confidence and peace-building measures as long as North Korea continues dialogue in good faith,” Mattis and Song said in a joint statement. 

{mosads}Mattis’s trip comes weeks after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Trump met face-to-face in Singapore and signed an agreement committing the U.S. to unspecified security guarantees in exchange for a denuclearized Korean peninsula.

Trump said earlier this month that the U.S. no longer faced a nuclear threat from North Korea. 

“Just landed – a long trip, but everybody can now feel much safer than the day I took office,” Trump said in a tweet. “There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea. Meeting with Kim Jong Un was an interesting and very positive experience. North Korea has great potential for the future!”

However, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo corrected Trump on Wednesday, saying that the U.S. still faces a nuclear threat from North Korea. 

“I’m confident what he intended there was, ‘we did reduce the threat,'” Pompeo said, referring to Trump’s comment. “I don’t think there’s any doubt about that.”