Ex-U.S. ambassador: 'No good military options' against North Korea

The United States has "no good military options" against North Korea, a former U.S. ambassador to South Korea said in an interview Sunday.


Instead, the only real alternative is cooperation with China, Christopher Hill said in an interview on New York's AM 970.

"There are no good military options," Hill, the ambassador to South Korea from 2004-05 during the George W. Bush administration, said. "You know, we've done a lot on sanctions. It's the most sanctioned country in the world -- that hasn't worked. We tried to have negotiations with them -- that hasn't worked. But I think what could work is a much better understanding between the U.S. and China."

Hill, who served as ambassador to Iraq from 2009-2010 in the Obama administration, is concerned about the nuclear threat by North Korea.

"In the last few years, North Korea's threat has really grown," he said. "Now we are seeing them modernize their missile arsenal such that it's quite likely in the near future ... North Korea will have a deliverable nuclear weapon. And then the question is, what are we all going to do about that?"

Hill, during the radio interview, said, "we are going to have to thicken up our defense of South Korea ... and I think we are going to have to really work more with China."

On Wednesday, North Korea test-fired a missile. U.S. officials said it was a failure as it exploded seconds after it was launched.
 [upi.com]
26/3/17