Mattis: NKorea 'Diplomacy Has Not Failed,' 'Our Self-Restraint Holds'

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the United States has not abandoned diplomatic options to ease tensions with North Korea, declaring Thursday "our self-restraint . . . has prevented war" and "our self-restraint holds," Stars and Stripes reported.

Speaking to reporters about North Korea's test of an intercontinental ballistic missile, Mattis said he does not "believe this capability brings us closer to war," the military news outlet reported.

"Diplomacy has not failed," he said. "It is our self-restraint that has prevented war . . . Our self-restraint holds."

A day earlier, Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman, said several elements of the first-ever launch of an ICBM by North Korea were troubling – including that it was fired into commercial airspace without warning, Stars and Stripes reported.

But Mattis insisted Thursday the United States was not caught off guard.

"We knew it as soon as it was fired that it had been launched," he said, per Stars and Stripes, and he said it does not force the United States to respond with military action — yet.

"We stand ready to provide options if necessary, but this [response] is purely diplomatically led," he said.

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