Stern warning to North Korea

‘DON’T TEST RESOLVE’: TO CURB NUCLEAR PLANS

US Vice-President points to Trump’s actions in Syria, Afghanistan

Seoul

US Vice-President Mike Pence yesterday warned North Korea not to test President Donald Trump’s resolve, declaring that “all options are on the table” in curbing its missile and nuclear weapons programmes.

Defying international pressure, the North on Sunday testfired another missile as fears grow that it may be preparing for its sixth atomic weapons test.

“We hope to achieve this objective (the North’s denuclearisation) through peaceful means but all options are on the table,” Pence said after a trip to the tense border with the North.

“Just in the past two weeks, the world witnessed the strength and resolve of our new president in actions taken in Syria and Afghanistan. North Korea would do well not to test his resolve, or the strength of the armed forces of the United States in this region,” Pence said at a press conference with South Korea’s acting president, Hwang Kyo-ahn.

Tensions between Pyongyang and Washington have soared in recent weeks as a series of North Korean missile tests has prompted ever-more bellicose warnings from Trump’s administration.

The new and inexperienced US president has indicated he will not allow North Korea to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the western US.

Pence declared that the era of US “strategic patience” in dealing with the North was over, after more than two decades.

North Korea “answered our overtures with wilful deception, broken promises and nuclear and missile tests”, he said.

The US, which stations 28 500 troops in South Korea, would “defeat any attack and we will meet any use of conventional or nuclear weapons with an overwhelming and effective response”.

Pence’s trip to the demilitarised zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas – one of the most heavily fortified frontiers on the planet – underscored Washington’s changing policy towards the isolated state.

The visit came after a huge military parade on Saturday during which North Korea showcased apparent intercontinental ballistic missiles, and as a US carrier group converges on the Korean peninsula.

It also came the day after North Korea’s latest launch – which failed when the missile blew up seconds after blast-off.

Speaking at the village of Panmunjom inside the DMZ, Pence said America’s relationship with South Korea was “ironclad and immutable”.

Pyongyang insists it needs a powerful arsenal – including atomic weapons – to protect itself from what it says is the ever-present threat of invasion by hostile US forces. – AFP