U.S. President Donald Trump (R) attends a joint press conference with visiting Kuwaiti Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmed Al-Jaber Al-Sabah at the White House in Washington D.C., the United States, on Sept. 7, 2017. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)
U.S. President Donald Trump said Thursday that military action against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) was not inevitable.
"Military action would certainly be an option. Is it inevitable? Nothing is inevitable," said Trump here during his joint press conference with visiting Kuwaiti Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.
Trump also warned that while he would prefer "not going the route of the military," military action against the DPRK was something that "certainly could happen."
One day before his remarks, Trump told reporters on his way to Bismarck, North Dakota that military action against the DPRK was "not a first choice."
The DPRK on Sunday detonated a hydrogen bomb that can be carried by an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), the DPRK's Central Television announced.
The DPRK's nuclear testing and launches using ballistic missile technology violated United Nations (UN) Security Council resolutions.
China's permanent representative to the UN Liu Jieyi on Monday condemned the latest nuclear test by the DPRK and urged the country to return to the track of dialogue. China will not allow chaos and war on the Korean Peninsula, he said.
Liu said the suspension-for-suspension proposal and dual-track approach put forward by China together with the Russian proposal of a step-by-step approach is a realistic and feasible roadmap for the settlement of the issue, asking the relevant parties for due consideration and positive responses.
The idea of a dual approach involves parallel efforts to move forward both de-nuclearization and the establishment of a peaceful mechanism on the peninsula. The initiative of suspension-for-suspension calls for the DPRK to suspend its nuclear and missile activities and for the United States and South Korea to suspend their large-scale war games.
