He made the remarks during an appearance with his South Korean counterpart, Defence Minister Han Min Koo. He described Mattis's visit so early in his tenure as a warning to North Korea. The U.S. has 28,500 troops permanently based in South Korea and about 50,000 in Japan. North Korea has said it was nearly ready to test-launch a ballistic missile of intercontinental range, meaning it could theoretically threat the United States. Alluding to China's objections to having THAAD deployed in South Korea, Mattis said, "THAAD should be a worry to no nation other than North Korea."

Source: CBC News February 03, 2017 07:52 UTC