N. Korea leader gets missile plans
Attack on Guam could mean war
SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea said today that its military presented leader Kim Jong Un with plans to launch intermediate-range missiles into waters near Guam and “wring the windpipes of the Yankees” by creating “enveloping fire” near the key U.S. military hub in the Pacific.
The comments, while typically belligerent, are significant because they appeared to signal a path to defuse a deepening crisis with Washington over a weapons program seen as nearing the ability to accurately send a nuclear missile to the U.S. mainland.
During an inspection of the army’s Strategic Forces, which handles the missile program, Kim praised the military’s “close and careful plan” and said he would watch the “foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees” a little more before deciding whether to order the missile test, the North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency said. Kim appeared in photos with a large map marked by a straight line between what appeared to be northeastern North Korea and Guam, passing over Japan — apparently showing the missiles’ flight route.
Kim said North Korea would conduct the launches if the “Yankees persist in their extremely dangerous reckless actions on the Korean Peninsula and its vicinity” and that the United States should “think reasonably and judge properly” to avoid shaming itself, the news agency said.
Lobbing missiles toward Guam would be a deeply provocative act from the U.S. perspective, and a miscalculation on either side could lead to a military clash. U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said the United Sates would take out any such missile seen to be heading for American soil and declared any North Korean attack could mean war.
Kim’s comments, however, with their conditional tone, seemed to hold out the possibility that friction could ease if the United States made a gesture that Pyongyang considered a move to back away from previous “extremely dangerous reckless actions.” This might be difficult as the United States and its ally South Korea plan next week to start annual defensive military drills that the North claims are preparation for invasion.
On Monday, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff met with senior South Korean military and political officials, and the local media. Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford said the United States wants to peacefully resolve tensions with North Korea. But Washington is also ready to use the “full range” of its military capabilities in case of provocation, he said.