Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
TRUMP’S NUKE THREAT
North Korea makes warhead sparking ‘fire and fury’ warning from US
PRESIDENT Trump last night warned North Korea it would be met with “fire and fury the world has never seen”.
Kim Jong-un’s rogue state has raised the risk of war by creating a miniature nuclear warhead that can fit in one of its missiles.
US reports said it had crossed a key stage on the way to being a full nuclear power.
The President added: “North Korea best not make any more threats to the United
States. He has been very threatening beyond a normal state and as I said they will be met with fire, fury and frankly power the likes of which this world has never seen before.”
It is not known if North Korea has successfully tested the smaller design.
The US estimated it had up to 60 nuclear weapons last month.
America’s Defence Intelligence Agency said: “The IC [intelligence community] assesses North Korea has produced nuclear weapons for ballistic missile delivery, to include Icbm-class [intercontintental] missiles.”
On Saturday, the UN Security Council voted to impose severe sanctions on the country.
President Trump praised the move yesterday, tweeting: “After many years of failure, countries are coming together to finally address the dangers posed by North Korea. We must be tough & decisive!” The North Korean leader reacted angrily to the sanctions which will make drastic cuts to the country’s export revenue. Trump is in the midst of what he has described as a working vacation in Bedminster as the White House undergoes renovations. Only last month US officials concluded Pyongyang is surpassing expectations in its effort to build an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking cities on its mainland.
The new findings show North Korea’s efforts are now progressing even more rapidly than experts had predicted.
While more than 10 years have passed since North Korea’s first nuclear detonation, many analysts believed it would be years before the country’s weapons scientists could design a compact warhead that could be delivered by a missile to long-range targets. North Korea said on Monday, two days after the UN sanctions were passed, that it would continue with its nuclear weapons programme. The state-run KCNA news agency said Pyongyang would “not put our self-defensive nuclear deterrent on the negotiating table” while it faces threats from the US.
It threatened to make the country “pay the price for its crime... thousands of times,” referring to America’s role in drafting the UN sanctions resolution.
Meanwhile, former US Vice President Al Gore suggested yesterday that Trump’s presidency could end prematurely. Acknowledging the “provocative” nature of his comment, he said: “We’re only six months into the experiment with Trump.
“Some experiments are ended early for ethical reasons.”
60 Amount of nuclear weapons North Korea was estimated to have