U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis says the U.S. Army must stand ready in the face of continued provocations by the North Korean regime.

Mattis made the call on Monday while delivering a keynote speech at the Association of the United States Army(AUSA) convention in Washington.

The defense chief said the U.S. administration is continuing its diplomatic efforts to find a peaceful solution to the North Korea issue, but military options should be available.
 
[Sound bite: U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis]
"It is right now a diplomatically led, economic-sanction buttressed effort to try to turn North Korea off this path. What does the future hold? Neither you nor I can say, so there's one thing the U.S. Army can do, and that is you've got to be ready to ensure that we have military options that our president can employ, if needed."
 
Mattis then urged the North to change its attitude, saying that all the countries in the world want Pyongyang to deal with the U.S. State Department rather than the Department of Defense.

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