The U.S. military has not detected any change in posture of North Korean forces despite the politically charged rhetoric coming from Pyongyang, Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford said on Tuesday.
“We haven’t seen a change in the posture of North Korean forces. We watch that very carefully,” Mr. Dunford said in a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.
On Monday, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho said the U.S. had declared war on his country.
The remarks came after U.S. President Donald J. Trump tweeted that North Korea “won’t be around much longer,” if Mr. Ri echoed the views of the country’s leader Kim Jong–un. The White House later dismissed the notion that Washington was at war with Pyongyang.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said earlier on Monday that the U.S. is going to continue to pursue diplomatic efforts to resolve the North Korean crisis.
“Hope that’s the way we’ll solve this,” he said.