MATTIS: North Korea should stop before it gets destroyed
North Korea "should cease any consideration of actions that will lead to the end of the regime and destruction of its people," Mattis said in a statement.
Mattis' statement appears to reference Tuesday night's release from the North Korean army, which said it was considering striking Guam with nuclear-capable Hwasong-12 intermediate-range missiles.
Mattis stressed that his first talks with Trump centered around the US's ability to defend against and deter nuclear missile attacks.
Mattis also lauded the State Department's efforts to bring a diplomatic solution to the Korean peninsula's conflict. He made clear that the US had "the most precise, rehearsed, and robust defensive and offensive capabilities on Earth."
The US, which protects its air and naval bases on Guam with advanced missile defenses, appeared prepared to meet the challenge of North Korea's unreliable missiles.
"We always maintain a high state of readiness and have the capabilities to counter any threat, to include those from North Korea," Lt. Col. Christopher Logan, a Pentagon spokesman, told Business Insider.
But Mattis has previously testified before the House Appropriations Committee that a fight with North Korea would be "more serious in terms of human suffering" than anything since the original Korean War ended in 1953.
"It would be a war that fundamentally we don't want," Mattis said at the time, but "we would win at great cost."