Story highlights Milley warned: "A full-blown war on the Korean Peninsula will be horrific by any stretch of the imagination"

"There are no good, easy, you know, risk-free options here," he said

Washington (CNN) US Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley made clear Monday what a bind the US is in when it comes to solving the challenge of North Korea's nuclear and missile programs, stating there are "no risk-free options" but said there is also not an "indefinite amount of time" to solve the crisis.

"A full-blown war on the Korean Peninsula will be horrific by any stretch of the imagination. No one has any doubts about that," Milley told reporters during a news conference on the sidelines of the Association of the United States Army's annual meeting in Washington.

And while Milley said that a full-scale military conflict on the Korean Peninsula would be "horrible," he also suggested that North Korea gaining possession of an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking the US would be similarly unacceptable.

"It would be horrible, there's no question about it, but so would an intercontinental ballistic missile striking Los Angeles or New York City. That would be equally horrible," he said.

And while the Army chief made it clear that the military is ready to act, he said there are no "risk-free options."

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