‘Storm clouds are gathering over the Korean Peninsula,’ says Mattis

‘Storm clouds are gathering over the Korean Peninsula,’ says Mattis. December. 25, 2017 07:36. by Jeong-Hun Park sunshade@donga.com.

U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis, who is responsible of America’s global defense, has made hard-line remarks day after day. Visiting the 82nd Airborne Division in Port Bragg in North Carolina on Friday, Mattis said, “Storm clouds are gathering over the Korean Peninsula. The U.S. troops all have to be ready to go if diplomacy fails,” noting there is little reason to think positively.

He recommended soldiers to read “This Kind of War” by T.R. Fehrenbach, and said “So you gotta be ready.” The book is an account by Fehrenbach, who participated in the Korean War as U.S. military officer, including the reason for U.S. troops’ failure in early days of its operation.

Mattis also said Washington has a contingency plan to evacuate families of U.S. troops stationed in Korea. However, he said, “I don’t think it is at that point yet,” adding there is no plan to eval‎uate them at this point.

On the PyeongChang Winter Olympics in South Korea in 2018, he said he does not think Kim Jong Un is stupid enough to start a war against the world by killing athletes, adding he thinks there is little chance Pyongyang will interfere with the Olympics.