Pentagon chief says North Korea engages in 'outlaw' behavior

SEOUL, South Korea – The threat of nuclear missile attack by North Korea is accelerating, US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Saturday, accusing the North of illegal and unnecessary missile and nuclear programs and pledging to repel any strike.

In remarks in Seoul with South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo at his side, Mattis said North Korea engages in "outlaw" behavior and that the US will never accept a nuclear North.

The Pentagon chief added that regardless of what the North might try, it is overmatched by the firepower and cohesiveness of the decades-old US-South Korean alliance.