Pentagon chief now declares North Korea, not Russia, the biggest threat to US security

US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis declared North Korea the “most urgent and dangerous threat to peace and security,” before the House Armed Services Committee on Monday night, moving Kim Jong-un’s regime past Russia as the No 1 threat the United States faces.

The statement was included in the defence secretary’s prepared opening statement, five months after Mattis identified Russia as first among threats facing the United States. The change comes as Pyongyang moves forward with what the United States calls an unprecedented number of tests on nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, and as the Trump administration’s connections to Russia are scrutinised by the FBI.

“North Korea’s continued pursuit of nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them has increased in pace and scope,” Mattis said. “The regime’s nuclear weapons program is a clear and present danger to all, and the regime’s provocative actions, manifestly illegal under international law, have not abated despite United Nations’ censure and sanctions.”

But Mattis still identified Russia as a threat, along with China, Iran and terrorist organisations. Russia and China, he said, are both “resurgent and more aggressive,” and have placed the “international order under assault.” The secretary has sought to reassure allies in both Europe and the Pacific in recent months that the United States still stands with them, after President Donald Trump repeatedly raised questions about whether he was committed to longstanding military alliances.

Mattis appeared alongside Marine General Joseph Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Pentagon comptroller David Norquist. In Dunford’s prepared testimony, he did not list a No 1 threat, but labelled Russia, China, Iran, North Korea and terrorist groups as “key challenges” the United States faces.

Several senior defence officials aside from Mattis have declared Russia the top threat the United States faces in the last few years, including Dunford. But the United States and Russia have forged an uneasy, limited relationship in some areas over the past year, including reducing military aviation operations over Syria as the Pentagon goes after Islamic State militants and Russia backs the Syrian regime.