Military-backed diplomacy needed to deal with North Korea, US Pacific command chief says

Admiral Harry Harris, the head of the US military’s Pacific Command, right, listens to William F. Hagerty, the US Ambassador to Japan, as Harris makes a courtesy visit at the prime minister’s official residence in Tokyo on November 16. (AFP)

TOKYO: Admiral Harry Harris, head of the US military’s Pacific Command, told Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera on Thursday that diplomacy backed by military power was necessary to deal with North Korea’s missile and nuclear development.
“Clearly, while diplomacy must be the main effort with North Korea, it has to be diplomacy backed by credible military power,” Harris said at the beginning of his meeting with Onodera.
North Korea has fired two missiles over Japan and conducted its sixth and the largest nuclear test in recent months, stoking regional tensions.