US DEFENCE Secretary James Mattis said yesterday that Washington’s military might would bolster diplomacy in the stand-off with North Korea.

Speaking to US troops at the Panmunjom “peace village” in the heavily fortified Demilitarised Zone between North and South Korea, he said: “We're doing everything we can to solve this diplomatically.

“Ultimately, our diplomats have to be backed up by strong soldiers and sailors, airmen and marines,” he added, “so they speak from a position of strength, of combined strength, of alliance strength, shoulder to shoulder.”