TOKYO — A group of 58 retired American military leaders is making a rare public plea to President Donald Trump, urging him not to take military action against North Korea but to instead pursue a diplomatic resolution to the current standoff.
As North Korea has demonstrated its increasing technical abilities, including the capacity to send a missile anywhere in the United States, Trump and some of his top aides have suggested that a military strike on North Korea might be the solution.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to “win victory in the showdown” with the United States, state media reported Wednesday.
Dozens of retired military leaders from across the services are writing to Trump to urge him not to start a conflict with North Korea, but to instead choose diplomacy.
“The current approach taken by the United States is failing to stop North Korea from developing its nuclear and missile technology,” states the letter, which was to be sent to the White House on Wednesday.
“The United States must initiate and lead an aggressive, urgent diplomatic effort to freeze North Korean nuclear and missile development and reduce regional tensions.”
Military action would result in hundreds of thousands of casualties in South Korea, putting the lives of more than 150,000 Americans there at risk, and the United States would be drawn into a preventable war, the letter says.
“Military options must not be the preferred course of action,” it continues.
The 58 retired admirals and generals who signed the letter were motivated by the deteriorating situation in North Korea, said Michael E. Smith, the retired U.S. Navy rear admiral who initiated the letter and leads a new nonpartisan organization called the American College of National Security Leaders.
“We felt we had a moral obligation to share our concerns with the president,” Smith said.
“It is clear that more can be done and we are urging the President to explore every possible diplomatic option before it is too late and we find ourselves in a dangerous and preventable war.”
The fact that former military leaders were prepared to come out publicly on such a sensitive issue shows how strongly they feel about it, said Tom Z. Collina, director of policy at Ploughshares Fund, a nonprofit organization that advocates for nuclear disarmament.
Ploughshares is working with the American College of National Security Leaders to promote a diplomatic solution to the crisis in North Korea.
