Pence: ‘We have options’ on North Korea

Vice President Pence on Thursday appeared to disagree with former White House chief strategist Stephen Bannon regarding the country’s strategy on North Korea.

“We have options,” Pence said on CBS “This Morning,” when talking about North Korea.

“There was some talk, two, three weeks ago, by some commentators that the most powerful military on Earth doesn’t have the ability to take action to defend our people. That’s wrong,” Pence said.

A CBS host interjected, saying: “I think it was Steve Bannon who actually was quoted saying that.”

{mosads}Pence emphasized that the U.S. has options to deal with the North Korean threat.

“But let me be very clear, the president desires a peaceful resolution of this confrontation with North Korea and will continue to pursue that,” Pence said.

“But it all begins on when the Kim regime announces their willingness to abandon their nuclear and ballistic missiles program and not before,” he said, referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

In August, Bannon appeared to break with the administration on North Korea when he said he didn’t believe there was a military solution on North Korea.

“There’s no military solution [to North Korea’s nuclear threats], forget it,” Bannon said in an August interview.

“Until somebody solves the part of the equation that shows me that ten million people in Seoul don’t die in the first 30 minutes from conventional weapons, I don’t know what you’re talking about, there’s no military solution here, they got us.”

President Trump earlier this week threatened to use force against North Korea during a speech he gave to the United Nations General Assembly.

“The United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea,” the president said in the speech.