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.“

„We are never out of diplomatic solutions,“ Mattis said before a meeting with his South Korean counterpart at the Pentagon. „We continue to work together, and the minister and I share a responsibility to provide for the protection of our nations, our populations and our interests.“