Tillerson and Mattis Reiterate, No U.S. Interest in Regime-Change or Acclerated Reunification in North Korea

PRESS RELEASE

Tillerson and Mattis Reiterate, No U.S. Interest in Regime-Change or Acclerated Reunification in North Korea

Aug. 14, 2017 (EIRNS)—In an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal, released yesterday by the U.S. Department of State, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defense James Mattis restate that the

"object if our peaceful pressure campaign is the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The U.S. has no interest in regime change or accelerated reunification of Korea. We do not seek an excuse to garrison U.S. troops north of the Demilitarized Zone."

They continue that the diplomatic approach is "shared by many nations...including China, which has dominant economic leverage over Pyongyang." They warn that "while diplomacy is our preferred means of changing North Korea’s course of action, it is backed by military options," describing joint military exercises as "defensive," as is the THAAD deployment.