‘LOCKED AND LOADED’
Trump warns Kim against threats, says US military ‘fully in place’
President Trump lobbed more threats at North Korea Friday, saying that the US military was “locked and loaded” and that if Kim Jong-un makes one more threat against the US “he will truly regret it.”
“Military solutions are now fully in place, locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely,” he tweeted from his golf resort in Bedminster, NJ. “Hopefully Kim Jong Un will find another path!”
The phrase “locked and loaded” refers to a gun ready to fire.
Hours later, he issued another blunt warning to the unhinged dictator (right).
“If he utters one threat in the form of an overt threat . . . or if he does anything with respect to Guam or any place else that’s an American territory or an American ally, he will truly regret it, and he will regret it fast,” the president said, offering no specifics.
Trump also retweeted a post from the US Pacific Command showing photos of Air Force bombers stationed in Guam, both on the ground and in the air.
“#USAF B-1B Lancer #bombers on Guam stand ready to fulfill USFK’s #FightTonight mission if called upon to do so,” the tweet read, referring to US Forces Korea, part of the Pacific Command.
“Fight Tonight” is a slogan used for years to indicate USFK’s readiness to engage in battle.
Earlier Friday, the North Korean state news agency, KCNA, blamed the president for the boiling tensions between the nations.
“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, using the abbreviation for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Russia, China and Germany, meanwhile, expressed alarm at the escalating rhetoric from Pyongyang and Washington, with China announcing that North Korea would be on its own if it initiates military action first.
The Pentagon said the US and South Korea would move ahead as planned with a joint military exercise in 10 days, an action sure to further antagonize North Korea.
Japan has started deploying land-based Patriot interceptor missiles after North Korea threatened to send ballistic missiles over western Japan and into the waters near Guam.
A senior US diplomat has been engaging in back-channel diplomacy with North Korea for months, addressing the deteriorating relations between the nations, as well as the issue of Americans imprisoned in North Korea.
The secret communications are being held regularly between Joseph Yun, the US envoy for North Korea policy, and Pak Song-il, a senior North Korean diplomat at Pyongyang’s UN mission, The Associated Press reported on Friday.
The two sides had discussions to secure the June release of an American university student, Otto Warmbier, who arrived back home in a coma and later died.