The New York Times has reported that the Department of Defense (DoD) has been slow to release their detailed war plans with the White House as they fear US President Donald Trump may actually use them.

Axar.az reports citing Sputnik.

On Friday, the Times reported that the DoD has been "worried that the White House is moving too hastily toward military action on the Korean Peninsula that could escalate catastrophically" and that "giving the president too many options… could increase the odds that he will act."

The Times' anonymous source claimed that Defense Secretary James Mattis and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Gen. Joseph Dunford, Jr. are both heavily opposed to the use of force on the Korean Peninsula, as military action could have cataclysmic consequences.

Instead, they want to opt for diplomacy to de-escalate the stand-off that has worn on since April 2017. This puts them in opposition to National Security Adviser H R McMaster and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson who have floated the idea of a strategic military strike against North Korean nuclear sites in the case that diplomacy breaks down.

All top officials favor diplomacy as the first solution, but McMaster has stressed that this was the same tactic used by previous administrations — one that he blames for allowing the current crisis to form.