‘Locked and loaded’ if N. Korea acts ‘unwisely’
washington — US President Donald Trump on Friday once again upped the ante in his war of words with North Korea, warning Pyongyang that the US military is “locked and loaded” in the event of a misstep by the totalitarian state.
Ignoring appeals from China for restraint, Trump launched another rhetorical salvo at the North to keep its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes in check.
The latest Twitter threat from the Republican billionaire leader, who took office in January, came as concerns swelled worldwide that a miscalculation by either side could trigger a catastrophic conflict on the Korean peninsula.
“Military solutions are now fully in place, locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely. Hopefully Kim Jong-un will find another path!” Trump wrote from his golf club retreat in New Jersey, where he is spending two weeks.
Earlier on Friday in Beijing, China — Pyongyang’s main diplomatic ally — had urged Trump and Kim to tone down the saber-rattling. Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang called on both sides to avoid “going down the old path of alternately showing strength and continuously escalating the situation”.
“We call on the relevant parties to be cautious with their words and actions, and contribute more toward easing tensions and enhancing mutual trust,” Geng said.
Beijing has repeatedly called for a resumption of long-dormant sixparty talks to peacefully resolve the mounting tensions, but its position has been overshadowed by the emerging game of brinkmanship between Trump and Kim. —
beijing/bedminster — US President Donald Trump issued a new threat to North Korea on Friday, saying American weapons were “locked and loaded” as Pyongyang accused him of driving the Korean Peninsula to the brink of nuclear war.
Trump kept up the war of words on Twitter shortly after the North Korean state news agency, KCNA, put out a statement blaming him for the escalated tensions.
“Trump is driving the situation on the Korean peninsula to the brink of a nuclear war, making such outcries as ‘the US will not rule out a war against the DPRK,’” KCNA said.
Trump, who is at his Bedminster, New Jersey, golf resort on a working vacation, described American military readiness in stark terms.
“Military solutions are now fully in place, locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely,” he wrote on Twitter. “Hopefully Kim Jong-un will find another path!” The US president maintained pressure on the North a day after saying his earlier threat to unleash “fire and fury” on Pyongyang if it launched an attack may not have been tough enough.
US Defence Secretary James Mattis tempered Trump’s harsh words later on Thursday by telling reporters the United States still preferred a diplomatic approach to the North Korean threat. A war would be “catastrophic,” he said.
Asked if the United States was ready if North Korea committed a hostile act, he said: “We are ready.”
Tension in the region has risen since the reclusive North staged two nuclear bomb tests last year and launched two intercontinental ballistic missile tests in July in defiance of world powers. Trump has said he would not allow Pyongyang to develop a nuclear weapon capable of hitting the United States. China, North Korea’s most important ally and trading partner, has reiterated calls for calm. Beijing has expressed frustration with both Pyongyang’s repeated nuclear and missile tests and with behaviour from South Korea and the United States, such as military drills, that it sees as increasing tensions.
China’s Foreign Ministry repeated a call for all parties to speak and act cautiously and do more to ease the situation, rather than going down the “old path” of exchanges of shows of force and continually rising tension.
North Korea’s state-run KCNA news agency said its army would complete plans in mid-August to fire four intermediate-range missiles over Japan to land near Guam.
Trump said Kim was not going to get away with his “horrific” comments and disrespecting America. “Let’s see what he does with Guam. He does something in Guam, it will be an event the likes of which nobody’s seen before, what will happen in North Korea,” Trump. —