Kasich: North Korean Leadership 'Has to Go'

Ohio Gov. John Kasich said on Friday the North Korean leadership "has to go," the Wall Street Journal reported Friday. 

"The North Korean top leadership has to go," the former GOP presidential candidate told reporters. "There are ways in which that can be achieved. You have to have very good intelligence and you have to do things very very quickly."

Kasich suggested it would be more effective to remove the top leaders in North Korea's government than it would be to engage in military conflict.

"Moving warships in and having a war, I don't think that's going to work," Kasich said. With a bomb strike, he said, "You're going to lose one million people."

In an interview on Thursday, President Donald Trump kept open the possibility of military intervention against North Korea and leader Kim Jong Un, while continuing to pursue diplomatic avenues.

"There is a chance that we could end up having a major, major conflict with North Korea. Absolutely," Trump told Reuters.

"We'd love to solve things diplomatically, but it's very difficult."

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told Fox News on Thursday the U.S. was not looking to overthrow the North Korean government or trying "to find some excuse for an accelerated reunification."

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