SEOUL — Any nuclear attack in Korea Peninsula would trigger an "effective and overwhelming" response, US Defense Secretary James Mattis said in Seoul on Friday as he sought to reassure Washington’s Asian allies following President Donald Trump’s inauguration. Some 28,500 US troops are based in South Korea and 47,000 in Japan. "Any attack on the United States or our allies will be defeated and any use of nuclear weapons would be met with a response that would be effective and overwhelming," Mattis told reporters ahead of a meeting with his South Korean counterpart Han Min-Koo. ’Top priority’On Thursday Mattis and South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn agreed to push through with the deployment of a US missile defence system strongly opposed by China. Mattis’ tour comes as relations between the US and other world powers such as Mexico and Australia get off to a rocky start.

Source: Viet Nam News February 03, 2017 04:23 UTC