N. KOREA PROVOKES, PRESSURES
On 4th of July, nation tests missile that could reach U.S.
North Korea’s successful launch of a missile that for the first time could reach the U.S. mainland ratchets up the pressure on President Trump and other world leaders to resolve a growing nuclear crisis with no easy solution.
The test launch came on the Fourth of July, three days before a Group of 20 summit of the world’s major economic powers convenes in Hamburg. The timing is almost certainly not coincidental. North Korea uses such occasions to call attention to its provocative acts — and its test elevates the urgency with which Trump and U.S. allies may feel compelled to respond.
Trump has repeatedly called on China to rein in its neighbor and close ally. China suggested a compromise Tuesday: North Korea would stop missile tests if the United States and South Korea scaled back military exercises in the region.
Wednesday evening, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson confirmed the intercontinental ballistic missile launch and called it a “new escalation” of the threat. He vowed to bring additional international pressure on the regime.
“The United States seeks only the peaceful denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the end of threatening actions by North Korea. As we, along with others, have made clear, we will never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea,” Tillerson said in a statement.
Trump has said he would be willing to try the diplomatic route and agreed to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un face-to-face. Prior diplomatic overtures by two U.S. presidents, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, failed when the North reneged on the agreements.
North Korea appears intent on developing a nuclear-tipped missile that could hit the USA, saying it needs such a deterrent to prevent a U.S. attack aimed at overthrowing the regime.
Trump, who has vowed to stop Kim from developing such a weapon, faces a thorny problem. If he orders an attack on North Korea, he might be able to halt or delay its nuclear and missile programs but could unleash a
Circles show the ranges of some of North Korea’s missiles. The North Korean government said it launched a Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile Tuesday. If true, the missile would be the first successful test of a long-range missile capable of reaching Alaska.