The United States Defense Secretary Jim Mattis warned that the country could launch a "massive military response" to threats from North Korea after Pyongyang detonated what it claimed to be a miniaturized hydrogen bomb.
"We have many military options and the president wanted to be briefed on each one of them," Mattis said. Any attacks on the US or its allies "will be met with a massive military response, a response both effective and overwhelming."
Mattis urged North Korea to heed calls to step back its nuclear escalation, "because we are not looking to the total annihilation of a country, namely North Korea, but as I said, we have many options to do so."
