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MASSIVE 5.6 magnitude earthquake STRIKES US territory – Ring of Fire on ALERT

Joseph Carey — Tue, 22 May 2018 06:13:56 +0000

A MASSIVE 5.6 magnitude earthquake has struck near US territory putting the Ring of Fire on alert, according to the United States Geological Survey.

The natural disaster was originally reported at a magnitude of 6.0 but was later downgraded.

The quake struck 54 miles southeast of the US territory of Guam in the Pacific Ocean at 12.26am GMT on Tuesday.

No tsunami warnings have been issued following the incident.

The Ring of Fire is a series of fragile fault lines that stretch from New Zealand, all around the east coast of Asia, over to Canada and the USA.

USGS

The quake struck the US territory of Guam in the Pacific Ocean at 12.26am GMT on Tuesday

They then stretch all the way down to the southern tip of South America.

Back in February Guam was rocked by four earthquakes of magnitude 5.7, 5.4, 5.6 and 4.9 tremors in a single day.

The US territory has 162,742 people living on the island while the Northern Mariana Islands have a population of 55,023.

The Northern Mariana Islands sit to the north of Guam.

The region is known for its tropical beaches and vulnerability to natural disasters.

Mexico was struck by a 5.2 magnitude earthquake yesterday, adding to Ring of Fire fears.

The tremors were initially reported at a 5.6 magnitude but were later downgraded.

Local reporter Leyla Santiago tweeted a picture of smartphone alerts being received by residents and those in the area taking to the streets in Mexico City.

It is understood a seismic alarm was triggered.

The earthquake struck in the eastern region of Guerrero.

Source: https://www.express.co.uk/news/world/963248/Guam-earthquake-latest-news-5-6-magnitude-earthquake-strikes-US-territory-Ring-of-Fire

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North Korea ‘preparing to launch another ballistic missile’ in retaliation over US naval drill

Nicola Smith — Sat, 14 Oct 2017 00:01:45 +0000

North Korea is believed to be preparing to launch another ballistic missile in retaliation for an upcoming joint naval drill by the US and South Korea, it emerged today..

The US Navy said on Friday that the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier will lead the drill in the coming week, as another show of force against dictator Kim Jong-un’s ongoing nuclear and weapons programme.

A riled Pyongyang immediately renewed its threat to fire missiles at the US Pacific territory of Guam, warning that “reckless moves” by the US would compel it to take action.

North Korea first threatened Guam in August after US President Donald Trump warned the pariah regime would “face fire and fury like the world has never seen”. Kim backed down temporarily but said he would watch for US provocation. Tensions have only escalated since.

A fresh missile test may also be on the cards. The Donga Ilbo daily, citing a government source, reported on Saturday that satellite images showed ballistic missiles mounted on launchers being transported out of hangars near Pyongyang and in the North Pyongan Province.

The source said US military officials believe the movement could indicate preparation for a test launch of a missile comparable to the Hwasong-14 inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) or Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM).

Another probability could be the testing of the new Hwasong-13 ICBM (solid engine) that has a longer maximum range than the Hwasong-14.

Initially it was expected that North Korea would carry out a provocative test last Tuesday, to mark the anniversary of its ruling party’s foundation.

However, speculation is now rising that the deployment of the US carrier strike group and nuclear-powered submarine to the Korean Peninsula may provide a fresh trigger for action.

“The North may carry out a simultaneous launch of ICBM and IRBM within a few days, in protest against the US’s show of military might,” a source told the Donga Ilbo.

The USS Ronald Reagan will conduct the ten-day joint drills in waters east and west of South Korea. Starting on Monday, the exercise will check the allies “communications interoperability and partnership,” the US Navy’s 7th fleet said in a statement.

As many as 40 navy vessels, including the Aegis destroyer and attack helicopters will be deployed.

Meanwhile, the USS Michigan, an 18,000-metric ton submarine, which arrived in the South Korean port of Busan on Friday, is also expected to join the exercise.

Although Washington and Seoul insist that regular joint drills are defensive in nature, North Korea considers them to be rehearsals for invasion and has lashed out with weapons tests in the past.

The deployment comes at a time of heightened tension between the US and North Korea, with both President Trump and Kim Jong-un trading regular insults.

“The US military action hardens our determination that the US should be tamed with fire and lets us take our hand closer to the trigger for taking the toughest countermeasure,” said a North Korean foreign ministry official, reported by state-run news agency KCNA on Friday.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/10/14/north-korea-preparing-launch-another-ballistic-missilein-retaliation/

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U.S. shows military might, flies stealth jets and bombers over the Korean Peninsula

Jane Onyanga-Omara and Dana M Williams, USA TODAY — Mon, 18 Sep 2017 17:47:13 +0000

(Photo: Handout, South Korean Defense Ministry vi)

The U.S. military flew stealth jets and bombers over the Korean Peninsula on Monday, days after North Korea launched an intermediate range ballistic missile over Japan.

The show of force came in response to Friday’s missile launch, the U.S. Pacific Command said in a statement.

The missile flew 2,300 miles from the North’s capital of Pyongyang and landed in the ocean.

Four U.S. F-35B Lightning II jets and two B-1B Lancer bombers joined four South Korean F-15K fighter jets and four Japanese F-2 fighter jets for the drills.

More: Ahead of U.N. meetings, Trump aides call for more pressure on North Korea

More: Japan residents advised to take cover as North Korea launches missile

The Lancer bombers came from the Andersen Air Force Base in the U.S. territory of Guam, which North Korea has threatened to launch four missiles toward.

The U.S. and South Korean aircraft “practiced their attack capabilities by releasing live weapons” at the South’s Pilsung Range training area, and the U.S. aircraft and Japanese fighters also flew over waters near Kyushu, Japan’s most southwesterly island, the U.S. Pacific Command said.

Captions for photos that accompanied the military statement said the mission demonstrated “the United States’ ironclad commitment to our allies in the face of aggressive and unlawful North Korean missile tests.”

While the latest missile launch posed no threat to the Guam, it was the longest-ever such flight of a North Korean missile and clearly showed that the island is within range of the country’s weapons.

Guam is located about 2,100 miles from Pyongyang.

Source: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2017/09/18/u-s-flights-korean-peninsula/676263001/

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North Korea releases aggressive propaganda posters boasting of nuclear power over US

Nicola Smith — Fri, 18 Aug 2017 22:56:17 +0000

North Korea has released propaganda posters boasting that the US mainland is “within our strike range!” and condemning strengthened United Nations sanctions over its recent missile tests.

One of the bold posters, released through state-controlled media on Thursday, depicts multiple rockets being fired at the US continent, which is covered by a burning American flag.

The second shows another barrage of missiles streaking down towards an already shattered Capitol building, the symbol of the US government.

The poster bears the labels “Military option. Pre-emptive strike. Sanctions resolution.” Red missiles emerge from a North Korean flag with the words “our answer!”

The posters are a sign of what has been a particularly tense period between the US and North Korea.

US President Donald Trump warned Pyongyang last week that it would face “fire and fury” if it did not cease to threaten America with its nuclear weapons programme.

North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un retaliated with a chilling warning that he may launch four ballistic missiles within 25 miles of the American Pacific island territory of Guam.

The tensions abated earlier this week when Kim announced he would put his plans to target Guam on ice for now, while watching America’s next move.

But the threat of conflict could escalate again next week when the US carries out annual joint military drills with South Korea, a routine exercise that Pyongyang views as a precursor to invasion.

The posters clearly denounced UN sanctions, after the latest round was slapped on North Korea on August 5 following its milestone intercontinental ballistic missile test in July. The sanctions are so severe that they could slash the pariah state’s $3 billion annual export revenue by a third.

North Korea frequently depicts its ire with the US in colourful propaganda posters and videos.

During an earlier escalation of tensions in April, Pyongyang released a video showing an aircraft carrier being hit after the US said it had deployed a navy strike group, led by supercarrier Carl Vinson, within “striking distance” of North Korea.

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/08/18/north-korea-releases-aggressive-propaganda-posters-boasting/

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North Korea Says It Will Wait ‘a Little More’ Before Acting on Guam Threat

Choe Sang-Hun — Tue, 15 Aug 2017 20:48:41 +0000

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea appeared on Tuesday to pause its threat to launch ballistic missiles toward Guam, saying it would wait to assess “the foolish and stupid conduct” of the United States before carrying the launchings out.

The statement came as the United States and South Korea were preparing to conduct joint military exercises on the Korean Peninsula and surrounding waters starting on Monday, despite North Korea’s vehement opposition to such drills.

In response to threats from President Trump, North Korea’s military announced last week that by mid-August, it would submit a plan to Kim Jong-un, the country’s leader, for launching four ballistic missiles into waters around Guam, the United States territory that is home to American military bases.

On Monday, Mr. Kim reviewed the plan while visiting the command of the Strategic Force of the Korean People’s Army but said he would wait a bit before telling the military to proceed with the missile launchings, the state news media reported on Tuesday.

“He said that the U.S. imperialists caught the noose around their necks due to their reckless military confrontation racket, adding that they would watch a little more the foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees,” said the report from the Korean Central News Agency.

Mr. Kim’s decision to wait “a little more” before ordering the launchings represented a slight ratcheting down of tensions and came after some of Mr. Trump’s top aides on Monday tried to tamp down fears of a clash after his threat to rain “fire and fury” on North Korea.

South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in, on Tuesday offered an unusually blunt rebuke to the Trump administration’s discussions of possible military responses to the North, saying no country should take military action on the Korean Peninsula without his government’s approval.

“It’s only South Korea that can decide on a military action on the Korean Peninsula,” Mr. Moon said during a nationally televised speech marking National Liberation Day, which celebrates the end of Japanese colonial rule of Korea at the end of World War II. “No one should be allowed to decide on a military action on the Korean Peninsula without South Korean agreement.”

South Koreans have grown increasingly concerned in recent days about a possible military conflict following Mr. Trump’s threats against the North.

As the exchange of combative rhetoric intensified between Mr. Trump and Mr. Kim, Mr. Moon and his office have issued a steady stream of statements opposing any armed conflict on the peninsula.

Although Mr. Moon’s latest statement did not mention Mr. Trump by name, it marked his strongest expression of disapproval of military options being considered by Washington.

In a meeting with Mr. Moon on Monday, Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, agreed with the South Korean leader that the standoff over North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats should be resolved through diplomacy and sanctions. But the top American general added that the United States was preparing military options in case those efforts failed.

“The United States military’s priority is to support our government’s efforts to achieve the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula through diplomatic and economic pressure,” General Dunford was quoted as saying in a Korean-language statement released by Mr. Moon’s office after the meeting on Monday. “We are preparing a military option in case such efforts fail.”

On Tuesday, General Dunford met in Beijing with his Chinese counterpart, Gen. Fang Fenghui, discussing North Korea, as well as Taiwan and the South China Sea. It was not clear what message General Dunford delivered, or whether the generals discussed China’s proposal that North Korea freeze its nuclear testing in exchange for the United States cutting sharply back on its military exercises with South Korea.

The Pentagon and the State Department have said in the last several days that the Trump administration favors diplomacy to resolve the North’s nuclear expansion, but they have rejected China’s proposal, which it first presented earlier this year.

In a statement after the meeting, General Fang struck a conciliatory tone on the relationship between the United States and China, but made no mention of North Korea. “Cooperation is the only right choice between China and the U.S.,” he said.

In his speech on Tuesday, Mr. Moon said that his government would “do everything it can to prevent war.” At the same time, he called for dialogue with North Korea, repeating his long-held belief that sanctions alone cannot solve the crisis over North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile programs.

“The purpose of strong sanctions and pressure against North Korea is to bring it to the negotiating table, not to raise military tensions,” he said.

The South Korean leader urged North Korea to help create momentum toward dialogue by not conducting any more nuclear or missile tests.

He also reiterated his proposal to the North that the two Koreas organize reunions of families separated during the 1950-53 Korean War as a first step toward easing tensions and improving ties on the divided Korean Peninsula.

China and Russia also kept up pressure on North Korea and the United States to tone down the language of their exchanges. The Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, told his Russian counterpart, Sergey V. Lavrov, in a phone call on Tuesday that their governments should “not permit anyone to provoke incidents at the doorsteps of China and Russia,” according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

“The urgent task is to slam the breaks on the mutually provocative words and actions between North Korea and the United States,” Mr. Wang said. “Cool the tensions and prevent an ‘August crisis’ from breaking out.”

Mr. Trump held a 30-minute call on Tuesday with Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister, about the tensions in the region.

In comments to reporters Tuesday morning Japan time, Mr. Abe said that the two leaders “frankly exchanged opinions on the current North Korean situation,” saying he appreciated Mr. Trump’s “commitment to the safety of its allies.”

Mr. Abe, who has emerged as one of Mr. Trump’s most loyal allies, said that he and Mr. Trump “shared the view that the priority is not to let North Korea launch missiles.”

Motoko Rich contributed reporting from Tokyo, and Jane Perlez and Chris Buckley from Beijing. Adam Wu contributed research from Beijing.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/15/world/asia/south-korea-trump-north-korea.html?action=click&contentCollection=Asia%20Pacific&module=RelatedCoverage®ion=EndOfArticle&pgtype=article

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North Korea: Donald Trump ignores Angela Merkel’s pleas against violence

Deutsche Welle — Fri, 11 Aug 2017 05:08:29 +0000

US President Trump stepped up his warnings for North Korea despite German Chancellor Merkel condemning his “verbal escalation.” The European Union has meanwhile called an extraordinary meeting to discuss its options.

US President Donald Trump on Friday brushed aside German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s criticism of the increasing tension between the United States and North Korea, saying she did not speak for his country.

“Let her speak for Germany,” Trump told reporters in New Jersey when asked about her comments.

“She’s a very good friend of mine,” Trump said. “Maybe she’s referring to Germany, she’s certainly not referring to the United States.”

He then beefed up a warning he had earlier posted on Twitter, which said “military solutions” were “fully in place, locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely. Hopefully Kim Jong Un will find another path.”

“I hope that they are fully going to understand the gravity of what I said and what I said is what I mean,” Trump reiterated at his New Jersey golf resort, where he was holidaying. If Kim attacked Guam, Trump warned, “he will truly regret it and he will regret it fast.”

Trump also said he would speak to Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday and that the US was considering additional economic sanctions against North Korea.

Merkel had earlier Friday condemned the escalating rhetoric between Pyongyang and Washington, saying that Germany’s government believed the conflict could not be solved by military means.

“Germany will very intensively take part in the options for resolution that are not military but I consider a verbal escalation to be the wrong response,” Merkel told reporters in Berlin.

Merkel instead advocated an international diplomatic response.

“I don’t see a military solution to this conflict,” she said. “I see the need for enduring work at the UN Security Council… as well as tight cooperation between the countries involved, especially the US and China.”

Her remarks echoed a statement released by her office quoting spokesman Steffen Seibert in which he also said the responsibility for the escalation lay with Pyongyang.

“Without the nuclear armament of North Korea the current situation would not have come to this,” Seibert said.

EU calls extraordinary meeting
European Union foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said she had called EU member states to an extraordinary meeting next week to discuss what action to take regarding North Korea, after meeting with the foreign ministers of various stakeholder countries on the sidelines of the ASEAN Regional Forum in the Philippines.

“Following her talks … Mogherini has decided to convene an extraordinary meeting of the Political and Security Committee on [Monday, August 14] to discuss possible next steps on the situation in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” her office said in a statement.

Russia pushes plan to defuse crisis
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov reiterated on Friday that Russia believes Pyongyang’s possession of nuclear weapons is “unacceptable.” He also warned the risk of a conflict breaking out is “very high” due to the recent war of words between Washington and Pyongyang.

“I believe the risks are very high, especially considering this rhetoric when direct threats of using force are voiced,” he said, speaking live on state TV at youth forum for Russian students.

Lavrov also urged the US and North Korea to agree to a joint Russian-Chinese plan to de-escalate tensions. Under the plan, North Korea would halt its missile tests while the US and South Korea would impose a moratorium on large-scale military exercises.

The Russian minister added that “when it comes close to fight, the one who is stronger and wiser should be the first to step back from the brink.”

China’s Foreign Ministry also repeated its call for all parties to speak more cautiously and do more to diplomatically ease the situation.

Dangerous rhetoric
North Korean military officials said on Thursday that plans to launch missiles towards the US island territory of Guam would be ready by mid-August. Afterwards, they will be presented to the country’s leader Kim Jong Un.

The plans called for four intermediate-range missiles to fly over Japan and land in the sea 30-40 km (18-25 miles) from Guam, according to the North Korean report.

Earlier this week, Trump warned that the US would bring “fire and fury like the world has never seen” if it provoked the US again, which was followed by North Korea’s Guam threat.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula ramped up after Pyongyang carried out two intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) launches last month.

The tests prompted the United Nations Security Council to unanimously pass its seventh round of UN sanctions that could cost North Korea $1 billion (849 million euro) per year.

Source: http://www.dw.com/en/north-korea-donald-trump-ignores-angela-merkels-pleas-against-violence/a-40056700

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Trump Doubles Down on Threats Against North Korea as Nuclear Tensions Escalate

Peter Baker — Thu, 10 Aug 2017 02:39:20 +0000

BRIDGEWATER, N.J. — President Trump escalated his war of words with North Korea on Thursday by declaring that his provocative threat to rain down “fire and fury” might not have been harsh enough, as nuclear tensions between the two nations continued to crackle.

Rejecting critics at home and abroad who condemned his earlier warning as reckless saber-rattling, Mr. Trump said North Korea and its volatile leader, Kim Jong-un, have pushed the United States and the rest of the world for too long.

“Frankly, the people who were questioning that statement, was it too tough? Maybe it wasn’t tough enough,” he told reporters at his golf club in Bedminster, N.J. “They’ve been doing this to our country for a long time, for many years, and it’s about time that somebody stuck up for the people of this country and for the people of other countries. So if anything, maybe that statement wasn’t tough enough.”

Mr. Trump noted that North Korea, which has made significant progress toward developing long-range nuclear weapons, responded to his original warning by threatening to launch a missile strike toward the Pacific island of Guam, an American territory and strategic base. “If he does something in Guam, it will be an event the likes of which nobody has seen before, what will happen in North Korea,” he said.

Asked if that was a dare, Mr. Trump said: “It’s not a dare. It’s a statement. Has nothing to do with dare. That’s a statement. He’s not going to go around threatening Guam and he’s not going to threaten the United States and he’s not going to threaten Japan, and he’s not going to threaten South Korea. No, that’s not a dare, as you say. That is a statement of fact.”

Mr. Trump made his latest comments on North Korea during a pair of televised media events that covered a dizzying array of topics. He assailed Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, for not passing his legislative priorities, calling it “disgraceful” that the party’s health care plan failed by one vote and hinting that the leader should step down if he cannot do better. Mr. Trump also said he would declare the opioid epidemic a national emergency and defended his decision to bar transgender people from the armed forces, saying he was “doing the military a great favor.”

In his first response to Russia’s decision to force the United States to slash its diplomatic staff in half, the president said he would thank President Vladimir V. Putin for helping him trim payroll costs. Mr. Trump expressed sympathy for his former campaign chairman, Paul J. Manafort, whose house was raided last month by law enforcement agents as part of an investigation into Russia ties, calling him “a very decent man.” He said he was not considering firing Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel.

After nearly a week of his working vacation here, the president was in an expansive mood and seemingly eager to talk and take on all issues. While his press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, held a sign in the back of the room saying “one more question,” Mr. Trump kept plowing ahead, taking one after another until he was satisfied.

Joining him at the club were Vice President Mike Pence and several aides, including Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, his national security adviser, who has been under fire from the alt-right media after purging his staff of several hard-liners thought to be close to Stephen K. Bannon, the president’s chief strategist. Mr. Trump said he “absolutely” had confidence in General McMaster.

Mr. Trump’s rhetoric on North Korea has reached a level that has alarmed allies in Asia and many Americans at home. Investors were unnerved on Thursday by the increasing tension. The Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index fell by 1.45 percent as investors sold out of highflying stocks such as Amazon, Facebook and Netflix. It was the sharpest daily decline in the benchmark S.&P. 500 since May 17.

Democrats complained that the president was inflaming the confrontation and called for diplomacy instead. “President Trump’s escalatory rhetoric is exactly the wrong response to dealing with North Korea’s provocative behavior,” said Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts, the top Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee’s East Asia Subcommittee. “It unnecessarily heightens the risk of miscalculation and creates the very fog that can lead to war.”

More than 60 House Democrats sent a letter on Thursday to Secretary of State Rex W. Tillerson asking him to restrain the president. “These statements are irresponsible and dangerous, and also senselessly provide a boon to domestic North Korean propaganda, which has long sought to portray the United States as a threat to their people,” the letter said.

Former President Jimmy Carter, who has visited North Korea three times as a private citizen, added his voice to the criticism. “In addition to restraining the warlike rhetoric, our leaders need to encourage talks between North Korea and other countries, especially China and Russia,” he said in a statement. He added that all parties must assure the North Koreans that they would forgo “any military action against them if North Korea remains peaceful.”

For all the bellicose words, Mr. Trump said on Thursday that he was open to negotiations, as Mr. Tillerson has urged. But the president expressed skepticism that talks would lead to a reasonable outcome, given the experiences of his predecessors Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, none of whom was able to resolve the issue through negotiations.

“Sure, we’ll always consider negotiations,” Mr. Trump said. “But they’ve been negotiating now for 25 years. Look at Clinton. He folded on the negotiations. He was weak and ineffective. You look what happened with Bush, you look what happened with Obama. Obama, he didn’t even want to talk about it. But I talk. It’s about time. Somebody has to do it.”

Mr. Trump likewise said he doubted that sanctions passed unanimously by the United Nations Security Council last weekend would ultimately succeed. But he again suggested that he would bargain with China by backing down from a planned trade war if Beijing did more to resolve the North Korea impasse.

“We lose hundreds of billions of dollars a year on trade with China,” he said. “They know how I feel. It’s not going to continue like that. But if China helps us, I feel a lot differently toward trade, a lot differently toward trade.”

He was vague about exactly where the line would be if North Korea did not back down, and refused to say whether he would consider a pre-emptive military strike without an attack by Pyongyang.

Asked what would be “tougher” than “fire and fury,” he demurred. “Well, you’ll see, you’ll see.”

Stress within the administration over North Korea again spilled over and into public view on Thursday. Speaking with reporters en route to Seattle, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the president was entitled to use whatever language he thought appropriate. “I was not elected,” he said. “The American people elected the president.”

But asked about his own equally tough but less colorful statement about North Korea, issued on Wednesday, Mr. Mattis said, “The rhetoric is up to the president. This is my rhetoric.”

A White House aide, meanwhile, said no one should listen to Mr. Tillerson on military matters related to North Korea after the secretary of state said he saw no imminent likelihood of war and urged Americans to sleep soundly.

“The idea that Secretary Tillerson is going to discuss military matters is simply nonsensical,” Sebastian Gorka, a deputy assistant to the president, told BBC Radio. “It is the job of Secretary Mattis, the secretary of defense, to talk about the military options.”

That drew a sharp retort from Mr. Tillerson’s spokeswoman. “He’s a cabinet secretary,” Heather Nauert, the State Department spokeswoman, told reporters. “He’s fourth in line to the presidency. He carries a big stick.”

Mr. Gorka went on Fox News to say his comment was misunderstood. “I was admonishing the journalists of the fake news industrial complex who are forcing our chief diplomat into a position where they are demanding he makes the military case for action when that is not the mandate of the secretary of state,” he said.

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/10/world/asia/north-korea-trump.html

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North Korea makes further Guam threats…South Korea issues warning

Arirang News — Thu, 10 Aug 2017 00:54:26 +0000

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President Donald Trump Press Conference: North Korea Paul Manafort 8/10/17

Live On-Air News — Thu, 10 Aug 2017 00:49:49 +0000

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjR_h-gtO6U

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North Korea’s nuclear advances raise alarm in Japan

Deutsche Welle — Wed, 09 Aug 2017 20:12:26 +0000

Reports indicating advanced North Korean nuclear capability and a fiery exchange of words between Pyongyang and Washington are causing concern in Japan that US military facilities might be the first targets.

Two reports released in the space of a few hours on Tuesday made the alarming claim that North Korea had successfully developed a miniaturized nuclear warhead that can be attached to a ballistic missile – a technical leap that most analysts had previously believed was still beyond the regime’s scientists.

To further stoke regional tensions, Pyongyang announced early on Wednesday that it was “carefully examining” a plan to strike US Pacific territory of Guam with its long-range ballistic missiles.

That declaration came shortly after US President Donald Trump threatened that any North Korean attack would be met with “fire and fury” -an uncharacteristically extreme tone from a US president.

The rate at which the security situation in Northeast Asia is deteriorating is causing alarm in Japan, which is home to numerous US military installations and is well within range of North Korean missiles.

On Tuesday, Tokyo released its annual defense white paper, reporting that North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile programs have attained “a new level of threat” toward Japan and the international community. The previous report stated that the programs posed “serious and imminent threats.”

‘Considerable advances’

“It is conceivable that North Korea’s nuclear weapons program has already made considerable advances and it is possible that North Korea has already achieved the miniaturization of nuclear weapons and has acquired nuclear warheads,” the report said.

“Since last year, when it forcibly implemented two nuclear tests and more than 20 ballistic missile launches, the security threats have entered a new stage,” the 563-page reported continued.

The study went substantially beyond what analysts and intelligence officials had previously believed North Korea is capable of. Its assertions were quickly corroborated by a report released by the US daily the Washington Post quoting a confidential US assessment that Pyongyang had successfully miniaturized a nuclear warhead.

The paper reported that the Defense Intelligence Agency concluded in July that North Korea had crossed a key threshold in its quest to become a full nuclear power. Another assessment calculates that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has an arsenal of as many as 60 nuclear weapons at his disposal.

Garren Mulloy, an associate professor of international relations at Japan’s Daito Bunka University, said these latest advances are cause for serious concern.

“It is not just the speed at which they have made these developments – which alone have caught the international community off-guard – but the way that they have not funneled all their resources into their nuclear miniaturization program,” he told DW.

Cause for alarm
The expert added that North Korea was making “great strides” in diversifying their delivery systems. The tried-and-tested launch of missiles from fixed launch pads has been perfected, but such missiles are vulnerable to pre-emptive strikes, Mulloy said.

So in tandem with the nuclear program, the North has developed and deployed mobile tractor-erector-launcher (TEL) units that can move around the country and are far more difficult to detect, he pointed out.

The third prong of the North’s long-range weapons program is the submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) that has not yet been completed, but has seen some rapid advances in the last 18 months.

Media coverage in Japan has triggered alarm in some parts of the country, particularly areas facing the Korean Peninsula across the Sea of Japan. A number of towns have introduced periodic drills simulating a missile strike nearby, with local residents encouraged to heed warning sirens and take cover if they are unable to evacuate.

The government has also recently updated information on the Cabinet Secretariat’s Civil Protection website about measures that citizens should take in the event of a missile attack. It says that people should take cover inside sturdy buildings or underground shopping facilities, while anyone caught in the open should lie flat on the ground and behind shelter, if possible. People indoors are also being told to stay away from windows.

School warnings
In April, an international school in Yokohama issued an alert to its staff, cautioning, “As a result of heightened tensions between North Korea and the United States, there has been a precautionary warning by the governmentof Japan that North Korea may launch a missile and it may be directed at Japan.”

“In this case, the government will sound an alarm and there will be an emergency announcement made over the PA system by the school head/designee for teachers to take the students that you are supervising to the auditorium,” it said. “It will be a tight squeeze, but everyone needs to shelter there until the all clear is given.”

Elsewhere, a company that markets bomb shelters and air-purifying equipment designed to keep radioactivity and toxic chemicals at bay says it is fielding as many as 30 inquiries for its products every day, up from around five a year ago.

And customers are not being put off by the 25 million yen (193,499 euros) price tag for bomb shelters, although many are expressing concern at the long waiting list.

“When we watch the news, it’s always very worrying,” said Kanako Hosomura, a housewife from Yokohama, south of Tokyo. “A few years ago we only heard when North Korea did a nuclear test or a missile launch, but now it seems that every day there is something about how they have made some advance that makes their missiles bigger or better.”

“Everyone knows that their missiles can hit anywhere in Japan now and the big US naval base at Yokosuka is less than 40 kilometers from here,” she said. “I fear that if Kim feels that his regime is going to collapse, then he might just fire his missiles anyway.”

Pre-emptive strike?
The same concerns are also clearly at the forefront of the Japanese government’s thinking, with a significant faction within the ruling Liberal Democratic Party pressing for Japan to formally announce that it retains the self-defense principal of being able to carry out a pre-emptive strike against an enemy that is preparing to attack Japan.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Sunday that he intends to carry out a study in the near futureinto the possibility of equipping Japan with the military ability to carry out such a first strike, although analysts here say the legal ability to do just that already exists in an unwritten form.

“My gut feeling would be that the LDP would not formally move in that direction, although the party has consistently since the start of the Cold War maintained that Japan has the right to strike if it detects an ‘imminent, direct and existential threat’ to Japan,” said Mulloy.

“But when it comes to a nuclear threat against Japan, I think Tokyo would prefer the US to do that and that it would provide support, as we saw with Japanese fighters escorting US bombers on recent exercises,” he said.

Source: http://www.dw.com/en/north-koreas-nuclear-advances-raise-alarm-in-japan/a-40020768

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