The "stakes" are high in the upcoming summit between president Donald Trump and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, because a breakdown in talks of denuclearization now would likely lead to military action, according to retired Adm. Mike Mullen.
"What I'm saying is if the talks fail that the likelihood of options are dramatically reduced to potential conflict, and that's a huge worry," Mullen told "Fox News Sunday."
"What I am most concerned about is if this doesn't result in a positive outcome, the potential for, I think, military conflict goes up and therefore you get into whether or not [Kim] would use the nuclear weapons. . . .
"I want to understand what the potential outcomes could be both on the upside and the downside."
Mullen, a former Joint Chiefs of Staff in both former President George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations, admitted he is "more skeptical than optimistic" June 12's summit with Kim will render a positive result, and "hypothetically" increasing the possibility of military instead of dissipating it.
"I want the result to be denuclearization complete, exactly what the president's seeking, and also not have any outbreak of war," Mullen told host Chris Wallace. "That's a pretty thin lane to get into, particularly if the talks break down."
Despite the high stakes talks, Muller did praise President Trump for being bold enough to engage in talks with Kim and his rogue nuclear-hopeful regime.
"I want to give President Trump credit for getting to this point," Mullen said. "He's moved the needle on this when that has not been done in the past, but I also think that, given the stakes, it's a very much high-risk, high-reward opportunity and I think the downsides potentially are really, really significant as well."
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