Ex-US defense official: Any new Korean war could quickly escalate to catastrophe

David Shear, former senior US defense official for East Asia under former president Barack Obama, told Reuters on Friday, any new military conflict with North Korea would likely escalate a nuclear war, bringing catastrophic casualties not seen since World War 2.

Key Quotes:

"It would be very difficult to eliminate that threat before the artillery fire could create a lot of damage on the southern side."

"I take projections of casualties of thousands to tens of thousands quite seriously and that's just in South Korea - it's possible North Korea could attack Japan as well."