US Defense Secretary James Mattis warned Pyongyang that any use of nuclear weapons by North Korea would be met with a massive military response, effective and overwhelming.

In a statement following defense talks in Seoul, Mattis said the US does not accept a nuclear North Korea, Al Hurra news channel reported on Saturday.

By sticking to its nuclear and missile program the North was in effect reducing its security, Mattis noted.

The Pentagon chief stressed that dialogue remained Washington's preferred method of settling the dispute with Pyongyang but added the threat of a nuclear strike from the North was accelerating.

On Friday, Mattis visited the demilitarized buffer zone between the two Koreas with South’s Defense Minister Song Young-moo.

Source: MENA