US Defense Secretary James Mattis said the military should be ready to provide all options to the White House for dealing with North Korea. President Donald Trump said over the weekend that “only one thing will work” with Pyongyang, dismissing 25 years of talks.

"There is one thing the US Army can do and that is you have got to be ready to ensure that we have military options that our president can employ if needed," Mattis said at the annual US Army association (AUSA) conference on Monday.

He cautioned that the US is currently “in a diplomatic-led effort,” however, pointing out that the UN Security Council has unanimously voted twice in a row for imposing stronger sanctions on North Korea.