There must be no war: Moon
> South Korean leader urges North to halt provocations
SEOUL: South Korea President Moon Jae-In yesterday declared there must be no war on the Korean peninsula and called on the North to halt its threatening behaviour as tensions between Pyongyang and Washington heighten with both hinting at military action.
“There must be no more war on the Korean peninsula. Whatever ups and downs we face, the North Korean nuclear situation must be resolved peacefully,” Moon said in opening remarks at a regular meeting with senior aides and advisers.
“I am certain the US will respond to the current situation calmly and responsibly in a stance that is equal to ours.”
The remarks were provided by the presidential Blue House.
Meanwhile, Guam governor Eddie Calvo said “sometimes a bully can only be stopped with a punch in the nose”, in a spirited defence of President Donald Trump’s rhetoric against North Korea which has the island in its crosshairs.
While Trump’s critics accuse him of inflaming tensions with Pyongyang, Calvo said he was grateful the US leader was taking a strong stance against North Korean threats on his Pacific homeland.
“Everyone who grew up in the schoolyard in elementary school, we understand a bully,” Calvo said.
“(North Korean leader) Kim Jong-Un is a bully with some very strong weapons ... a bully has to be countered very strongly.”
Calvo said Trump was being unfairly criticised over his handling of the crisis, which escalated when Pyongyang announced plans to launch missiles towards Guam in a “crucial warning”.
He said the North had threatened Guam – a US territory which hosts two large army bases – at least three times since 2013.
He said previous presidents had also used strong words to warn off Pyongyang, pointing out Barack Obama said last year that “we could, obviously, destroy North Korea with our arsenals”.
“One president (Obama) said it one way, cool and calmly with a period ... the other said fire and fury with an exclamation point, but it still leads to the same message.”
He rejected suggestions that Trump and the North Korean dictator were as bad as each other when it came to the sabrerattling playing out in the western Pacific.
“Well there’s only one guy that has vaporised into a red mist, his uncle or a general, because he fell asleep in a meeting with an anti-aircraft gun, that’s Kim Jong-Un.
“There’s only one guy that’s killed his brother with one of the most toxic nerve agents ever created, that’s Kim Jong-Un,” he said. – Agencies