Korea tensions ease slightly as U.S. officials play down war risks

PanARMENIAN.Net - Tensions on the Korean peninsula eased slightly on Monday, August 14 as South Korea's president said resolving Pyongyang's nuclear ambitions must be done peacefully and key U.S. officials played down the risk of an imminent war with North Korea, Reuters reports.

Concern that North Korea is close to achieving its goal of putting the mainland United States within range of a nuclear weapon has underpinned a spike in tensions in recent months.

U.S. President Donald Trump warned at the weekend that the U.S. military was "locked and loaded" if North Korea acted unwisely after threatening last week to land missiles near the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam.

"There must be no more war on the Korean peninsula. Whatever ups and downs we face, the North Korean nuclear situation must be resolved peacefully," South Korean President Moon Jae-in told a regular meeting with senior aides and advisers.

"I am certain the United States will respond to the current situation calmly and responsibly in a stance that is equal to ours," he said.

While backing Trump's tough talk, U.S. officials including National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster played down the risk on Sunday of the rhetoric escalating into conflict.

"I think we're not closer to war than a week ago, but we are closer to war than we were a decade ago," McMaster told ABC News' "This Week".

U.S. Central Intelligence Agency Director Mike Pompeo said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un might well conduct another missile test but talk of being on the cusp of a nuclear war was overstating the risk.

"I've seen no intelligence that would indicate that we're in that place today," Pompeo told "Fox News Sunday".

Asian stocks rallied on Monday as investors took heart from the less bellicose rhetoric.

However, North Korea reiterated its threats, with its official KCNA news agency saying "war cannot be blocked by any power if sparks fly due to a small, random incident that was unintentional".

"Any second Korean War would have no choice but to spread into a nuclear war," it said in a commentary on Monday.