There will be dire consequences for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s regime if any nuclear weapons are used against the United States or its allies, Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon’s press secretary, warned this week.

“I think we’ve been very clear that were North Korea to employ a nuclear weapon, it would be the end of the North Korean regime,” Ryder said during Tuesday’s press briefing, in response to a question about the United States’ readiness to respond to an attack.