Trump condemns ‘appeasement’
hydrogen bomb that could be transported on a ballistic missile. Details could not immediately be verified, but South Korean officials estimated the blast had a strength of 50 to 100 kilotons — markedly more powerful than previous tests or the bombs dropped by the U.S. on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II.
South Korea responded Monday, firing a ground-to-ground Hyunmoo ballistic missile and a long-range, air-to-ground missile from an F-15K fighter at targets in the Sea of Japan, the military said. The simulated targets were designed to replicate the location of the North’s Punggye-ri nuclear test site.
Defense Minister Song Youngmoo told a South Korean parliamentary session that the country’s leadership is leaning in “a direction that strengthens the military standoff, rather than ... dialogue.”
The simulation came as South Korea’s National Intelligence Service warned its nation’s lawmakers that North Korea may be preparing to test another intercontinental ballistic missile, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reported. The spy agency, in a closed session, warned that the test could be tied to the anniversary of the regime’s founding set for Saturday or the anniversary of the establishment of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea on Oct. 10.
North Korea flew a missile over northern Japan last week, the first such overflight by a missile capable of carrying nuclear weaponry. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un described that missile test as a “meaningful prelude” to containing Guam, home of major U.S. military facilities.
Sunday’s nuclear test prompted a chorus of global condemnation and drew an angry response from the Trump administration. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis warned of a “massive military response” against North Korea if the U.S. or its allies are threatened. Mattis added that “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.”
President Trump took to Twitter on Sunday, blasting Seoul for what he described as a policy of “appeasement” and threatening to cut off trade with China for failing to use its influence with Pyongyang to stop the nuclear buildup.
China issued a statement condemning Pyongyang ’s test but also termed Trump’s threat “unacceptable.” Geng Shuang, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman, said China was working to resolve the issue of nuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and did not deserve to be the subject of sanctions.
Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in talked Monday for the first time since the nuclear test. The leaders agreed to increase the payload of South Korean missiles, Moon’s office said.