Kim Jong-un puts Guam missile plan on hold

North Korea is holding off on plans to fire missiles towards Guam.

Leader Kim Jong-un yesterday said he would “watch a little more the foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees” before executing any order.

He said, however, that he would go ahead with those plans should the US persist in its “reckless actions”.

Analysts said Mr Kim’s latest comments open the way to take the heat out of the crisis fuelled by a war of words between president Donald Trump and Pyongyang.

In response to Mr Trump’s “fire and fury” threats against Pyongyang, North Korea said it would fire a volley of four missiles over Japan towards Guam – a US territory that is home to about 163,000 people and hosts two military bases.

Mr Kim was briefed on the “plan for an enveloping fire at Guam” on Monday during an inspection of the command in charge of the nuclear-armed state’s missile units.

If they [the US] “persist in their extremely dangerous reckless actions on the Korean peninsula”, North Korea would take action “as already declared”, Mr Kim said.

“To defuse the tensions and prevent the dangerous military conflict on the Korean peninsula, it is necessary for the US to make a proper option first,” he said.

There was a false alarm in Guam yesterday when two radio stations issued emergency warnings to indicate an imminent attack. The territory was on edge over North Korean threats, and listeners called police after the stations triggered the emergency alert broadcast, issuing “a civil danger” warning at 12.25am.

Also yesterday, a spokesman for the North’s foreign ministry said: “The issue of detained Americans is not a subject of discussion given the current state of relations.”

Three Americans, accused of crimes against the state, are behind bars in North Korea.

Pyongyang has arrested and jailed several US citizens in the past decade, often releasing them only after high-profile visits by US officials or former presidents.