New North Korea threat
State media warns of ‘super-mighty preemptive strike’ against US
NORTH Korean state media has warned the United States of a “super-mighty preemptive strike” after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said they were looking at ways to bring pressure to bear on North Korea over its nuclear programme.
US President Donald Trump has taken a hard line with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, who has rebuffed admonitions from sole major ally China and proceeded with nuclear and missile programmes in defiance of UN Security Council sanctions.
The Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party, did not mince its words.
“In the case of our super-mighty preemptive strike being launched, it will completely and immediately wipe out not only US imperialists’ invasion forces in South Korea and its surrounding areas but the US mainland and reduce them to ashes,” it said.
Reclusive North Korea regularly threatens to destroy Japan, South Korea and the US, and has shown no let-up in its belligerence after a failed missile test on Sunday, a day after putting on a huge display of missiles at a parade in Pyongyang.
“We’re reviewing all the status of North Korea, both in terms of state sponsorship of terrorism as well as the other ways in which we can bring pressure on the regime in Pyongyang to re-engage with us, but re-engage with us on a different footing than past talks have been held,” Tillerson said in Washington yesterday.
US Vice-President Mike Pence, on a tour of Asian allies, has said repeatedly an era of strategic patience with North Korea is over.
US House of Representatives speaker Paul Ryan said during a visit to London the military option must be part of the pressure brought to bear.
“Allowing this dictator to have that kind of power is not something that civilised nations can allow to happen,” he said in reference to Kim.
Ryan said he was encouraged by the results of efforts to work with China to reduce tension, but it was unacceptable that North Korea might be able to strike allies with nuclear weapons. North and South Korea are technically still at war because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.
South Korea’s acting president, Hwang Kyoahn, at a meeting with top officials yesterday, called for the military and security ministries to maintain vigilance.
The defence ministry said US and South Korean air forces were conducting an annual training exercise, codenamed Max Thunder, until April 28.
North Korea routinely labels such exercises preparations for invasion.
“We are conducting a practical and more intensive exercise than ever,” South Korean pilot Colonel Lee Bum-chul said.
“Through this exercise, I am sure we can deter war and remove our enemy’s intention to provoke us.”
South Korean presidential candidates clashed on Wednesday in a debate over the planned deployment in South Korea of a US-supplied Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) anti-missile system, which has angered China.
Front-runner Moon Jae-in was criticised for leaving his options open before the May 9 election.
On Monday, Hwang and Pence reaffirmed their plans to go ahead with the THAAD, but the decision will be up to the next South Korean president. For its part, China says the system’s powerful radar is a threat to its security.
The North has said it has developed a missile that can strike the mainland United States, but officials and experts believe it is some time away from mastering the necessary technology.
The US and Russia clashed at the UN on Wednesday over a US-drafted Security Council statement to condemn North Korea’s latest failed ballistic missile test.
Diplomats said China had agreed to the statement. Such statements by the 15-member council have to be agreed by consensus. – Reuters
Allowing this dictator to have that kind of power is not something civilised nations can allow to happen