NKorea holds off Guam strike
SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim JongUn said Tuesday he would hold off on a planned missile strike near Guam, but warned the highly provocative move would go ahead in the event of further “reckless actions” by Washington.
Some analysts suggested Kim’s comments opened a possible path to de-escalating a growing crisis fuelled by bellicose words between US President Donald Trump and the North Korean leadership.
Their recent exchanges were focused on a North Korean threat Japan towards the US territory of Guam, which hosts a number of strategic military bases.
agency said Kim was briefed on at Guam” during an inspection on Monday of the Strategic Force command in charge of the nucleararmed state’s missile units.
But Kim said he would “watch a little more the foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees” before executing any order.
If they “persist in their extremely dangerous reckless actions on the Korean peninsula,” then North Korea would take action “as already declared,” he was quoted as saying.
“In order to defuse the ten military conflict on the Korean peninsula, it is necessary for the he added.
‘De- escalating’
Kim’s remarks would appear to bring into play the large- scale by South Korea and the United States that are expected to kick off later this month.
The North has always denounced offered a moratorium on further nuclear and missile testing in exchange for their cancellation—a trade-off promoted by Pyongyang’s rejected by Washington and Seoul.
Some analysts said Kim was seeking a similar quid-pro-quo this time around, using the Guam
reciprocal constraints on exercises
This picture taken on Monday and released from North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Tuesday shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un (C) inspecting the Command of the Strategic Force of the Korean People’s Army (KPA) at an undisclosed location.
- sity in Seoul said Kim was “deescalating, putting Guam plan on ice”—at least for now.
“We are not out of the woods. Both sides need to keep taking steps to de-escalate in words and deed. Diplomacy needs to go in high gear,” he added.
The United States and South Korea insist their annual joint cannot be linked to the North’s host of UN resolutions.
Joshua Pollack, a senior research associate at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey, said Pyongyang was using the Guam threat as “straight-up blackmail.”
‘Fire and fury’
The North Korean announcement prompted joy in Guam, where “almost ecstatic that Kim Jong-Un has backed off”.
since the North tested two intercontinental ballistic missiles last month, which appeared to bring much of the US within range.
Responding to the tests, US President Donald Trump warned North responded with the plan to
The standoff has sparked global alarm, with world leaders includ urging calm on both sides.
South Korean President Moon Jae-In weighed in on Tuesday, say Korean War at all costs.
“Military action on the Korean Peninsula can only be decided by the Republic of Korea and no one may decide to take military action without the consent of the Republic of Korea,” Moon said.
But he added there could be no dialogue before the North halts its “nuclear and
Moon’s comments came after US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson penned an opinion piece in the The Wall Street Journal insisting regime change in Pyongyang.
“We do not seek an excuse to garrison US troops north of the Demilitarized Zone,” they wrote. on the long-suffering North Korean people, who are distinct from the hostile regime in Pyongyang.”