‘US bases targeted in missile drill’
> N. Korea: Launches show readiness to ‘wipe out’ enemy
SEOUL: Nuclear-armed North Korea said yesterday its missile launches were training for a strike on US bases in Japan, as global condemnation of the regime swelled.
Three of the four missiles fired Monday came down provocatively close to US ally Japan, in waters that are part of its exclusive economic zone, representing a challenge to US President Donald Trump.
In separate phone calls, Trump – whose rhetoric on the campaign trail had raised doubts about the issue – reaffirmed Washington’s “ironclad commitment” to Japan and South Korea.
The US will demonstrate to Pyongyang that there were “very dire consequences” for its actions, the White House said in a statement.
The UN Security Council scheduled an emergency meeting today after a request by Washington and Tokyo to discuss additional measures following the launch.
Under UN resolutions, Pyongyang is barred from any use of ballistic missile technology, and the US ambassador to the UN, Nikki Haley, said on Twitter that the world “won’t allow” North Korea to continue on its “destructive path”.
Kim Jong-Un gave the order for the drill to start, the North’s official Korea Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
The military units involved are “tasked to strike the bases of the US imperialist aggressor forces in Japan in contingency”, KCNA said.
The Korean version of the KCNA report said the North’s launch demonstrated its readiness to “wipe out” enemy forces with a “merciless nuclear strike”.
A series of photographs published by the North’s Rodong Sinmun newspaper showed Kim watching the missiles rise into the air and another of him smiling gleefully, clapping with other officials.
Seoul and Washington last week began annual joint military exercises that always infuriate Pyongyang.
The US military has also begun deploying the THAAD antiballistic missile defence system to South Korea, US Pacific Command said, with its first elements arriving on Monday, to protect against threats from the North.
Pyongyang wants to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the US mainland – something Trump has vowed would not happen.
It has undoubtedly made progress in its efforts in recent years, although questions remain over its ability to master re-entry technology and miniaturise a nuclear weapon sufficiently to fit it onto a missile warhead.
The THAAD deployment has infuriated China, the North’s key diplomatic ally and crucial to efforts to persuade it to change its ways. – AFP