On North Korea Mattis disagrees with Trump publicly for the second time
WASHINGTON/SEOUL, Aug 30 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Wednesday declared "talking is not the answer" to the tense standoff with North Korea over its nuclear missile development, but his defense chief swiftly asserted that diplomatic options remain, and Russia demanded U.S. restraint.
Trump's comment, a day after Pyongyang fired a ballistic missile over Japan that drew U.N. and other international condemnation, renewed his tough rhetoric toward reclusive, nuclear-armed and increasingly isolated North Korea.
"The U.S. has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years," Trump, who just last week said North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was "starting to respect" the United States, wrote on Twitter. "Talking is not the answer!"
When asked by reporters just hours later if the United States was out of diplomatic solutions with North Korea amid rising tensions after a series of missile tests by Pyongyang, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis replied: "No."
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