U. S. UPS KOREAN DEFENCE SYSTEM
‘If it flies, it will die,’ admiral tells Congress
Ahead of an extraordinary White House briefing for senators, close ally South Korea on Wednesday started installing key parts of a contentious U. S. defence system against missiles from North Korea. And America’s Pacific commander said any North Korean missile fired at U.S. forces would be destroyed.
“If it flies, it will die,” Adm. Harry Harris Jr., told Congress.
South Korea’s trumpeting of progress in setting up the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defence system, or THAAD, comes as high- powered U. S. military vessels converge on the Korean Peninsula and as a combative North Korea signals possible nuclear and missile testing. Harris said the THAAD would be operational within days.
North Korea conducted live- fire artillery drills on Tuesday, the 85 th anniversary of the founding of its million- person Korean People’s Army. On the same day, a U. S. guided- missile submarine docked in South Korea. The USS Carl Vinson aircraft supercarrier also is headed toward the peninsula for an exercise with South Korea. China, which is urging restraint on all sides, called for the U. S. to halt the manoeuvres.
At a House Armed Services Committee meeting, Harris said he expects North Korea to soon be able to develop a long-range missile capable of striking the United States, despite some failures.
“Just as Thomas Edison is believed to have failed 1,000 times before successfully inventing the electric light bulb, so too, Kim Jong Un will keep trying,” Harris said. “One of these days soon, he will succeed.”
Harris testified before a pair of Trump administration briefings on the North Korea crisis. All 100 senators were then invited to a briefing in a building next to the White House with more high level officials. The briefing team was then to speak to House members in the Capitol.
Installation of the THAAD system is upsetting China. Beijing, which has grown increasingly frustrated with North Korea, its traditional ally, and Russia see the system’s powerful radars as a security threat.
In Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the THAAD system’s deployment would “disrupt the regional strategic balance and further aggravate the tension on the peninsula.”
KIM WILL KEEP TRYING. ONE OF THESE DAYS SOON HE WILL SUCCEED.