US war with North Korea becomes increasingly likely, senator says
The US and South Korea yesterday began their largest joint air exercise in what North Korea has called “all-out provocation”, days after Pyongyang fired its most powerful intercontinental ballistic missile.
The five-day Vigilant Ace drill – involving 230 aircraft, including F-22 Raptor stealth jet fighters, and tens of thousands of troops – began yesterday morning, Seoul’s air force said.
Pyongyang over the weekend blasted the drill, accusing US president Donald Trump’s government of “begging for nuclear war”.
The annual exercise began five days after the nucleararmed North test-fired a new intercontinental ballistic missile, which it said brings the whole of the US within range.
US senator Lindsey Graham, an influential Republican, warned that the US was moving closer to “pre-emptive war” with the North.
“If there’s an underground nuclear test, then you need to get ready for a very serious response by the US,” Mr Graham said.
The isolated and impoverished North has staged six increasingly powerful nuclear tests since 2006, most recently in September.
“The pre-emption is becoming more likely as their technology matures,” Mr Graham said. “Every missile test, every underground test of a nuclear weapon, means the marriage is more likely.”
Mr Graham’s remarks echoed those of Mr Trump’s national security adviser, H R McMaster, who told a security forum on Saturday that the potential for war with the North “is increasing every day”.
The North boasted that the Hwasong 15 missile tested on Wednesday is capable of delivering a super-large nuclear warhead anywhere in the US mainland.
Analysts agree that the latest test showed a big improvement in range, but said it was probably achieved using a dummy warhead that would have been quite light. They said a missile carrying a much heavier nuclear warhead would struggle to travel as far.
They are also sceptical that Pyongyang has mastered the sophisticated technology required to protect such a warhead from the extreme temperatures and stress as the missile passes back through the atmosphere back to Earth.
The North’s widely condemned nuclear and missile programmes have made significant progress under leader Kim Jong-un, who has overseen four nuclear tests and dozens of missile launches since taking power in 2011.
The months-long nuclear stand-off between Mr Kim and Mr Trump, and their exchange of personal insults, has fuelled concerns of another conflict more than six decades after the 1950-1953 Korean War that left much of the peninsula in ruins.
But even some Trump advisers say US military options are limited when Pyongyang could launch an artillery barrage on the South Korean capital Seoul, which is home to 10 million people, is only 50 kilometres from the heavily fortified border.
Senator Lindsey Graham said the chances of preemptive action by the US increased with every nuclear or missile test