Locked and loaded: Trump
America’s exercise with South Korea sure to antagonise Pyongyang further.
President Donald Trump has issued a new threat to North Korea, saying the US military was “locked and loaded” as Pyongyang accused him of driving the Korean peninsula to the brink of nuclear war and world powers expressed alarm.
The Pentagon said the United States and South Korea would proceed as planned with a joint military exercise in 10 days, an action sure to further antagonise North Korea.
China, Russia and Germany voiced dismay at the war of words between Pyongyang and Washington.
China’s President Xi Jinping, in a call with Trump yesterday, said all sides should avoid rhetoric or action that would worsen tensions on the Korean Peninsula, Chinese state media said.
China Central Television cited Xi as saying that Beijing and Washington are both interested in the denuclearisation of the peninsula.
The report quotes Xi as saying: “At present, the relevant parties must maintain restraint and avoid words and deeds that would exacerbate the tension on the Korean Peninsula.”
Earlier, Germany’s Angela Merkel said “I don’t see a military solution and I don’t think it’s called for,” declining to say whether Germany would stand with the US in a military conflict with North Korea.
She called on the UN Security Council to continue to address the crisis.
“I think escalating the rhetoric is the wrong answer,” Merkel added.
“Let her speak for Germany,” Trump said, when asked about the comment. “Perhaps she is referring to Germany. She’s certainly not referring to the United States, that I can tell you.”
Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, estimated the risk of a military
conflict between the US and North Korea as “very high,” and said Moscow is deeply concerned.
Asked how Moscow would act in case of a military conflict, Lavrov answered it would do everything it could to prevent the worst-case scenario.
Lavrov said Russia doesn’t accept
the North’s nuclear weapons bid and pointed at a proposal by China and Russia under which Pyongyang would freeze its nuclear and missile tests while the US and South Korea would halt military drills.
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says he will do everything he can to protect the Japanese people as
tensions escalate over North Korean plans to send missiles flying over Japan toward Guam.
He made the comments yesterday while visiting his father’s tomb in his ancestral hometown.
Earlier, the Defence Ministry said it was deploying four of Japan’s surface-to-air Patriot interceptors in western Japan to respond to a possible risk of fragments falling from missiles.
The ministry did not confirm whether Japan’s Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera has already issued an order to shoot down incoming missiles.