“As far as a timeline, it would be crazy for me to share with you those tripwires in advance. If we did that, it would hardly be a military strategy,” he added.
North Korea has pursued missile and nuclear tests in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions and ignored all calls, including from lone major ally China, to stop. It justifies its weapons programs by pointing to perceived U.S. hostility and regularly threatens to destroy the United States.
The United States and South Korean began long-planned joint military exercises on Monday called the Ulchi Freedom Guardian, which the allies have said were purely defensive and did not aim to increase tension on the Korean peninsula.
The drills end on Aug. 31 and involve tens of thousands of troops as well as computer simulations designed to prepare for war with a nuclear-capable North Korea.
A North Korean Army spokesman repeated the threat of undisclosed retaliation against the United States for readying a preemptive strike and a war of aggression, using the drills as an excuse to mount such an attack.
