Ex-Pentagon Chief: Trump Threats Risk Nuclear War with N Korea

Local Editor

Leon Panetta, former US War Secretary said in a broadcast interview Friday that President Donald Trump's threatening language at the leadership of North Korea risks setting off a nuclear war in northeast Asia that could cost millions of lives.

"We have the potential for a nuclear war that would take millions of lives. So I think we have got to exercise some care here," Panetta told NBC News' Andrea Mitchell in the interview broadcast on Friday. "I think we have got to be careful here... We should not engage in any precipitous action."

The 20 million people living in the South Korean capital of Seoul could be the target of a North Korean attack if a war started, Panetta, who served as war secretary under President Barack Obama, warned.

"There is no question that this is a tinderbox, has been for a long time, but we are at a time when there is a potential for provocation with the testing of this nuclear weapon... [T]he words from the administration are creating even higher volume in terms of the provocations that are going on," Panetta said.

North Korean leaders accused Trump of "making trouble" with his threatening tweets.

The nation's official Rodong Sinmun newspaper said North Korea was prepared to respond to any aggression by the US.

"Our revolutionary strong army is keenly watching every move by enemy elements with our nuclear sight focused on the US invasionary bases not only in South Korea and the Pacific operation theater but also in the US mainland," it said.

Meanwhile, the country's foreign minister said it will conduct its next nuclear test whenever its supreme headquarters sees fit.

Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping last week at Mar-a-Lago in the US state of Florida and said that he wanted to enlist his help in dealing with North Korea. Since, Trump reaffirmed that the security threat posed by North Korea would be taken care of.

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team