NORTH KOREA SAYS IT’S READY FOR WAR,
Missile or nuke test imminent; U.S. navy group approaches
PYONGYANG, North Korea — North Korea is expected to test a missile or nuclear weapon as early as today — the 105th birthday of the country’s late founder, Kim Il-sung — and anxiety is mounting.
U.S. President Donald Trump has moved a navy strike group to the Korean peninsula. Vice-President Mike Pence is scheduled to travel to South Korea today. Japan has issued a warning over North Korea’s suspected chemical-weapons capabilities, with officials in Tokyo discussing how to remove the country’s 60,000 citizens from South Korea.
In Pyongyang, vice-minister Han Song Ryol accused the United States of fomenting the trouble and vowed: “We will go to war if they choose.”
Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi warned Friday morning of “storm clouds” gathering over the Korean peninsula, saying that “tit-for-tat threats between the United States and North Korea with daggers drawn has created a dangerous situation worthy of our vigilance.”
There can be no winners in a war between the U.S. and North Korea over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and missile programs, Wang Yi said, while pledging support for dialogue between the sides.
Wang’s comments mark the latest attempt to cool tensions by North Korea’s most important ally and key provider of food and fuel aid. Any fighting on the Korean Peninsula is likely to draw in China, which has repeatedly expressed concerns about a wave of refugees and the possible presence of U.S. and South Korean troops on its border.
“Once a war really happens, the result will be nothing but multiple loss. No one can become a winner,” Wang told reporters at a news conference with French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault.
“Therefore, we call upon all the parties, no matter verbally or in action, to stop provoking and threatening each other and not to allow the situation to become irretrievable and out of control,” Wang said. “As long as dialogue takes place, it can be official or unofficial, through one channel or dual channels, bilateral or multilateral. China is willing to give support to all of them.”
Wang last month urged North Korea to suspend its nuclear weapon and missile tests in exchange for South Korea and the U.S. putting their war games on hold, reviving a proposal first raised by Pyongyang. Washington swiftly dismissed the idea, but some observers have said administration officials might be becoming more amenable to renewed dialogue with the North.