Trump escalates threats on North Korea as tension rise China to remain ‘neutral’ if North Korea attacks first

DOUBLING down on his war of words, US President Donald Trump warned Kim Jong-un’s government on Thursday to “get their act together” or face extraordinary “trouble”, and suggested his earlier threat to unleash “fire and fury” on North Korea was too mild.

“Maybe that statement wasn’t tough enough,” Trump said, in the latest US salvo in an escalating exchange of threats between the nuclear-armed nations.

A day after North Korea laid out plans to strike near Guam with unsettlingly specificity, there was no observable march toward combat, despite the angry rhetoric from both sides. US officials said there was no major movement of US military assets to the region, nor were there signs Pyongyang was actively preparing for war. Trump declined to say whether the US is considering a pre-emptive military strike as he spoke to reporters before a briefing with his top national security advisers at his New Jersey golf resort.

The president insisted the North had been “getting away with a tragedy that can’t be allowed”.

“North Korea better get their act together, or they are going to be in trouble like few nations have ever been in trouble,” Trump said, flanked by Vice President Mike Pence. Accusing his predecessors of insufficient action, Trump said it was time somebody stood up to the pariah nation.

Though tensions have been building for months amid A CHINESE state-run newspaper has suggested Beijing would “stay neutral” if North Korea strikes first in a conflict with the United States, despite a mutual defence pact between the Asian allies.

The nationalistic Global Times tabloid said yesterday in an editorial that Washington and Pyongyang were playing a “reckless game” that could lead to “miscalculations and a strategic war”.

“China should also make clear that if North Korea launches missiles that threaten US soil first and the US retaliates, China will stay neutral,” the editorial said.

However it added: “If the US and South Korea carry out strikes and try to overthrow the North Korean regime and change the political pattern of the Korean peninsula, China will prevent them from doing so.”

The commentary came after Washington warned North Korea this week it faced “fire and fury like the world has never seen” if it continued to threaten the US with its missile and

new missile tests by the North, the pace has intensified since the UN Security Council on Saturday passed sweeping new sanctions Trump had requested. The sanctions prompted the new heated volley of rhetoric. nuclear programmes.

That prompted a defiant Pyongyang to threaten a missile attack on Guam, a tiny US territory in the Pacific that is home to major US air and naval facilities.

China — which has been accused by the US of not doing enough to rein in its longtime ally — has maintained that political dialogue is the only solution.

Adrian Brown, reporting from Beijing, said commentary gave an inkling of China’s official stance.

“The editorial also says that if the US carries out strikes and tries to overthrow the North Korean regime then China would prevent that from happening. But it doesn’t specify how Beijing would do that,” he said.

“Now of course China is the only ally that North Korea has but China has now agreed to tougher UN sanctions against North Korea, which means it will no longer be importing coal, iron, lead and seafood. Now if China does have influence over North Korea, we have yet to really see it.” the

In the latest move by North Korea, its military announced a detailed plan to fire four Hwasong-12 missiles over Japan and into waters around the tiny US territory of Guam, home to two US bases and 160 000 people.

As tension soars in the region, South Korea’s media called yesterday for Seoul to build nuclear weapons of its own to defend itself.

South Korea, which fought a war alongside the US with the North that ended in a stalemate in 1953, is highly technologically advanced and analysts estimate it could develop an atomic device within months of deciding to do so.

“Now is time to start reviewing nuclear armament,” the Korea Herald said in an editorial.

The South, which hosts 28 500 American troops, is banned from developing its own nuclear weapons under an atomic energy deal it signed in 1974 with the US, which instead offers Seoul a “nuclear umbrella” against potential attacks. But with Pyongyang regularly threatening to turn Seoul into a “sea of flames” — and nagging questions over Washington’s willingness to defend it if doing so put its own cities in danger of retaliatory attacks — the South’s media are leading calls for a change of tack. — AP

North Korea said its military would finalise the plan by mid-August, then wait for Kim’s order. US allies Japan and South Korea quickly vowed a strong reaction if the North were to follow through.

Trump echoed that threat on Thursday, insisting if North Korea took any steps to attack Guam, its leaders would have reason to be nervous. “Things will happen to them like they never thought possible, OK?” Trump said. He did not specify what they might be.

Guam lies about 3 400 kilometres from the Korean Peninsula, and it’s extremely unlikely Kim’s government would risk annihilation with a pre-emptive attack on US citizens. It’s also unclear how reliable North Korea’s missiles would be against such a distant target, given that its military has struggled to target effectively in the past.

Mark Fitzpatrick, the director of the non-proliferation programme at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, told Al Jazeera that Trump had promised retaliation if North Korea “threaten” to attack Guam, whereas North Korea has threatend to send missiles towards Guam that would fall short.

“[Trump] seems to be talking about retaliating against a test. That would itself provoke a war that the United States would have started in that case,” he said.

Fitzpatrick said that North Korea will likely respond to Trump’s elevated threats by also ramping up their rhetoric.

“They will shout louder,” said Fitpatrick. “I think President Trump has challenged Kim Jong-un who now will feel compelled to follow through with a missile test.” — Al Jazeera