US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis issued a stark warning of impending nuclear catastrophe during his tour of Asia.
Speaking at a press conference earlier today, the US general said the threat of nuclear missile attack by North Korea increasingly likely.
This comes after North Korea urged its enemies to take the threat of a hydrogen bomb test in the Pacific Ocean “literally”
With South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo at his side, Mattis accused North Korea of acting like “outlaws”.
He condemned the country’s illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear programs and again repel to defeat any attack.
General Mattis said: “North Korea has accelerated the threat that it poses to its neighbours and the world through its illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear weapons programs.”
He added that US-South Korean military and diplomatic collaboration has taken on “a new urgency” in recent days.
He added: “Our military options as I mentioned are designed to buttress the diplomats’ efforts to maintain a deterrence stance and denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.
“However, there are also many different military options that would realistically reduce that threat as low as possible.
“And yes, we do have those options.”
Earlier in the news conference, South Korea revealed that limits on conventional missile warhead payloads would be lifted.
They also outlined the sequence of events if war does break out, whereby the US would initially lead command of the military offensive of South Korean forces, before gradually passing on control to South Korean generals.