DON & KIM FACE OFF
Exchange threats over ‘Japan’ missile
Threatening and destabilizing actions only increase the North Korean regime’s isolation ... All options are on the table. President Trump, on the regime of Kim Jong-un (right)
President Trump warned on Tuesday that “all options are on the table” for the United States to respond to North Korea’s missile launch over Japanese territory earlier in the day — prompting Kim Jong-un to taunt back that the launch was a “meaningful prelude” to an attack on the American territory of Guam.
The missile flew 1,677 miles, reaching a maximum height of 341 miles and flying over the island of Hokkaido, making it the first projectile North Korea has fired over Japanese territory since 1998.
“The world has received North Korea’s latest message loud and clear: This regime has signaled its contempt for its neighbors, for all members of the United Nations, and for minimum standards of acceptable international behavior,” Trump said.
“Threatening and destabilizing actions only increase the North Korean regime’s isolation in the region and among all nations of the world. All options are on the table.”
The launch was Pyongyang’s latest tweak of Trump, who recently suggested that his tough approach — including apocalyptic threats to unleash “fire and fury” — meant that despot Kim “is starting to respect us.”
Kim had earlier threatened to fire missiles at Guam and the US mainland.
Later Tuesday, the North Korean leader promised more missile flights over Japan and hinted that the latest launch was a “curtain raiser” to an attack on Guam, which he called the “base of invasion.”
South Korea’s spy service said the North fired its most recent missile from the international airport in its capital, Pyongyang, which observers said could illustrtrate the country’s ability to fire frfrom anywhere.
North Korean Ambassador Han Tae-Song, addressing the UN Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, said his country had ththe right to react to ongoing USSSouth Korean military exercises.
As a result of Tuesday mornining’s launch, Japan and the United States called an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, where US Ambassador Nikki Haley warned that “enough is enough.”
“It’s unacceptable. They have violated every single UN Security Council resolution that we’ve had, and so I think something serious has to happen,” Haley said, adding that new sanctions against Pyongyang could be discussed.