Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Sunday he will not publicly discuss issues related to North Korea, deferring to diplomats and the White House, ahead of a proposed meeting between President Donald Trump and North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong Un.
Mattis said the situation was simply too sensitive for comment by officials in places such as the Pentagon, which is not directly involved in the diplomatic outreach.
‘I do not want to talk about Korea at all. I will leave it to those who are leading the effort,’ Mattis told reporters during a flight to Oman.
‘Because it’s that delicate, when you get into a position like this. The potential for misunderstanding remains very high or goes higher.’
His careful language comes as Republican senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin called for the U.S. to ‘ratchet up’ pressure on North Korea, and the White House said there were no additional conditions for the meeting to go forward.
SILENT TREATMENT: ”I do not want to talk about Korea at all,’ said Defense Secretary James Mattis, saying the situation was too delicate
‘Lets not be Charlie Brown to North Korea’s Lucy. We’ve seen this movie before,’ Johnson told CNN’s ‘State of the Union’ Sunday.
‘If anything I would continue to ratchet up sanctions until they again they have complete verifiable and irreversible denuclearization,’ the Trump ally said.
Mattis was in the White House when Trump made the spur-of-the-moment decision to meet with Kim, accepting an apparent invitation conveyed through South Korean officials who were debriefing the administration.
After months of escalating tension over North Korea’s advancing nuclear and missile programs, Trump decided on Thursday to agree to meet with North Korea’s leader and become the first sitting U.S. president to do so.
President Trump accepted an invitation by the North Korean dictator to have a meeting
On Saturday, Trump said his meeting could fizzle without an agreement or it could result in ‘the greatest deal for the world’ to ease nuclear tensions between the two countries.
‘Who knows what’s going to happen?’ said Trump.
Trump’s move marked a sharp departure from 60 years of largely arms-length U.S. diplomacy when it comes to North Korea, not to mention his own previous rhetoric against Pyongyang.
No venue or date has been announced for the meeting, which is expected to be held by the end of May.
Mattis did not offer any clarity on his expectations, deferring to the State Department, the White House National Security Staff and Trump himself.
‘Right now every word is going to be nuanced and parsed apart across different cultures, at different times of the day, in different context,’ he said.
On Thursday, the commander-in-chief accepted an invitation to meet face-to-face with the reclusive despot in a dramatic development
‘And right now, I want a very straight line from those actually responsible, not from those of us in a supporting or background role.’
A White House official said on Friday Trump remained committed to a meeting based on conditions laid out by South Korea: that Kim is committed to denuclearization, will refrain from any further nuclear or missile tests, and understands that U.S.-South Korean military exercises must continue.
The U.S.-South Korean exercises are expected to be held in the coming weeks, raising questions about how the Pentagon would portray them.
‘I’m sure the White House and the Department of State will be keeping you very well informed,’ Mattis said.
South Korean national security director Chung Eui-yong speaks to reporters at the White House in Washington, Thursday, March 8, 2018
Deputy White House press secretary Raj Shah said North Korea would not have to meet any new conditions for the meeting to go forward.
‘This potential meeting has been agreed to, there are no additional conditions being stipulated, but, again they – they cannot engage in missile testing, they cannot engage in nuclear testing and they can’t publicly object to the U.S.-South Korea planned military exercises,’ Shah said on ABC’s ‘This Week.’
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on NBC’s ‘Meet the Press’ the meeting would give Trump a chance ‘to sit down and see if he can cut a deal’ with Kim
‘The president has been very clear in what the objective is here. And that is to get rid of nuclear weapons on the peninsula,’ said Mnuchin.