US considers pre-emptive North Korea attack: report

THE US is considering making a pre-emptive strike against North Korea to show it’s “serious” about stopping leader Kim Jong-un.

The US is considering a ‘bloody nose’ attack on North Korea. Picture: KCNA/KNS via AP

THE US is considering a pre-emptive strike against North Korea to force it to stop its weapons program, according to a report.

Three sources told The Telegraph of London that the White House was drawing up military options as diplomacy had failed to curb the rogue regime.

“The Pentagon is trying to find options that would allow them to punch the North Koreans in the nose, get their attention and show that we’re serious,” a former US security official told the paper.

Diplomatic options have yet to stop Kim Jong-un’s weapons program. Picture: AFP/Ed Jones

The Trump administration has advanced plans for a military solution “dramatically”.

Options on the table include bombing a missile launch site before the next test and destroying a weapons stockpile.

The aim is to show North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that the US is “serious” about stopping the weapons regime.

Donald Trump has shown a willingness to make decisive military moves before, having ordered air strikes against Syria in April in retaliation to the Assad regime using chemical weapons against his own people.

The Hwasong-15 intercontinental ballistic missile is test-fired in North Korea. Picture: KCNA/KNS via AP

An Asia-Pacific adviser to former president Barack Obama, Evan Medeiros, told a conference in New York last week that the Trump White House was taking the North Korean threat seriously.

“We need to be mindful that military options are very much on the table,” Mr Medeiros told the Asia Society.

“It’s something that’s being seriously debated and discussed within the Trump administration.

“It’s not the sort of thing that you can really talk about publicly because it’s not well known how advanced those conversations are — but I think it remains an active option.”

Military options against North Korea are on the table in the Trump White House. Picture: AFP/Saul Loeb

While Mr Trump vowed to rain “fire and fury” down on North Korea earlier this year if the hermit kingdom threatened the US or its allies, the President made no mention of a military response when unveiling his National Security Strategy on Monday.

“Our campaign of maximum pressure on the North Korean regime has resulted in the toughest-ever sanctions,” Mr Trump said.

“We have united our allies in an unprecedented effort to isolate North Korea. However, there is much more work to do.

“America and its allies will take all necessary steps to achieve a denuclearisation and ensure that this regime cannot threaten the world.

“This situation should have been taken care of long before I got into office, when it was much easier to handle. But it will be taken care of. We have no choice.”

US defence secretary Jim Mattis talks to US Marine Corps troops at a rifle range at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Thursday. Picture: AP Photo/Robert Burns

Speaking at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba on Thursday, defence secretary Jim Mattis told American troops that efforts to stop North Korea were focused on diplomacy but they needed to be “ready to go” should that fail.

Mr Mattis described North Korea as a “not yet imminent but a direct threat to the United States”.

At another point, he said that during the Cold War, US leaders had been confident that Russia and China did not want to start a nuclear war. “That may be an assumption we cannot make” with Kim Jong-un, he said.

Meanwhile, the United Nations is expected to vote on Friday on a Security Council resolution that ramps up sanctions on North Korea by cutting oil supplies vital for Pyongyang’s military programs.

The measure would ban the supply of nearly 90 per cent of refined oil products to North Korea and order the repatriation of all North Korean nationals working abroad within 12 months, according to the text obtained by AFP.

— With Wires