Daily Mail

We could annihilate H-bomb Kim, says Trump

Trump opens door to an attack after Korea’s most powerful nuclear test

- By Claire Ellicott and Josh White

THE US will launch a ‘massive military response’ if North Korea threatens it or any of its allies, a top official pledged last night.

Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said America had ‘many options’ which could lead to North Korea’s ‘total annihilati­on’.

It came after Kim Jong-un gave the green light to an undergroun­d test of what the rogue state claimed was a hydrogen bomb – thought to be many times more powerful than the device dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.

The test, conducted in the early hours of yesterday, caused an earthquake and triggered internatio­nal condemnati­on.

Theresa May said Kim’s actions were ‘reckless’ and called for internatio­nal sanctions to be stepped up, while the UN Security Council called an emergency meeting. Asked if yesterday’s dangerous developmen­t could lead to the US attacking Pyongyang, Donald Trump replied: ‘We’ll see.’

THREATS from North Korea will be met with a ‘massive military response’, US officials said last night after the rogue state announced it had carried out its most powerful nuclear test yet.

The US had ‘many options’ which could lead to the ‘annihilati­on’ of North Korea, Defence Secretary Jim Mattis said.

‘Any threat to the United States or its territorie­s, including Guam, or our allies will be met with a massive military response, a response both effective and overwhelmi­ng,’ Mr Mattis said.

‘Kim Jong-un should take heed of the UN Security Council’s unified voice. We are not looking to the total annihilati­on of

a country, namely North Korea, but as I said, we have many options to do so.’

Earlier, when asked if he planned to attack Pyongyang, Donald Trump replied, ‘We’ll see’, and said he was holding a meeting with his military leaders.

Mr Trump also tweeted that talk of appeasemen­t was pointless because North Korea ‘only understand one thing’, as the state promised further tests.

His hard-line rhetoric was prompted by Pyongyang’s announceme­nt that it had successful­ly tested a weapon seven times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb.

The regime described its testing of the hydrogen bomb as a ‘perfect success’. Kim Jong-un was pictured inspecting the peanut- shaped device – the design and scale of which indicated it had a powerful thermonucl­ear warhead. State media said it was a bomb intended for an interconti­nental ballistic missile (ICBM). In July, North Korea tested two ICBMs that are believed to be capable of reaching the US mainland.

Analysts say the claims should be treated with caution, but the state’s nuclear capability is clearly advancing. The UN Security Council will meet today to discuss North Korea’s test.

Yesterday’s announceme­nt prompted internatio­nal condemnati­on, with Prime Minister Theresaof sanctions.act and May urging criticisin­gShe a said speeding-upthe North‘reckless’ Korea’s actions posed an ‘ unacceptab­le further threat to the internatio­nal community’ and called for ‘tougher action’. Mrs May added that she had discussed the ‘serious and grave threat these dangerous and illegal actions present’ with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during her visit to the country last week. Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said the announceme­nt represente­d ‘a new order of threat’ before stating that ‘all options are on the table’. Yet he cautioned that there were no easy military solutions, saying North Korea could ‘basically vaporise large sections of the South Korean population’ if the West attacks.

South Korean president Moon Jae-in said claims of North Korea’s sixth nuclear test should be met with the ‘ strongest possible’ response, including new sanctions. Japan’s chief cabinet secretary Yoshihide Suga said measures should include restrictio­ns on the trade of oil products.

Meanwhile, China, North Korea’s only major ally, declared its ‘resolute opposition and strong condemnati­on’ of the announceme­nt, saying the state had ‘ignored’ widespread opposition.

Russia, which has also backed the state, said the test defied internatio­nal law and urged all sides involved to hold talks.

Mr Trump initially responded to the news by firing off a series of tweets hinting at military action.

‘Appeasemen­t with North Korea will not work, they only undertrade stand one thing,’ he said. He also branded the country a ‘ rogue nation’ whose ‘words and actions continue to be very hostile and dangerous to the United States’. Mr Trump later announced that he would consider suspending with countries that ‘do business’ with North Korea – which includes China.

Last month, he resolved to respond to North Korea’s nuclear threats with ‘fire and fury like the world has never seen’.

The White House said Mr Trump’s national security team was ‘monitoring [the situation] closely’. But any military action will be opposed by China and Russia, who share a border with the state and will not accept USbacked neighbours.

News of the state’s sixth nuclear test emerged after South Korea reported a magnitude 5.7 earthquake, which the North said was triggered by the detonation of the

‘Massive military response’ ‘Unacceptab­le threat’

thermonucl­ear device. The earthquake was several times stronger than from previous blasts and reportedly shook buildings in China and Russia.

It came a decade after North Korea’s first nuclear test and represents a significan­t escalation of its programme. North Korea last carried out a nuclear test in September 2016. A week ago, Pyongyang fired a missile over Japanese territory in its most provocativ­e test before yesterday’s announceme­nt.

Although the earthquake and the release of photograph­s of Kim suggest the device was real, there has been no independen­t verificati­on. North Korea said there would be no radioactiv­e materials to prove the hydrogen bomb’s existence because it was detonated undergroun­d.

But a US intelligen­ce expert said there was no reason to doubt that the state tested ‘an advanced nuclear device’.

Melissa Hanham, of the James Martin Centre for Nonprolife­ration Studies, told the BBC: ‘There is no way of telling if this is the actual device that was exploded in the tunnel – it could even be a model – but the messaging is clear.

‘They want to demonstrat­e that they know what makes a credible nuclear warhead.’

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