Americans support military force on N. Korea
Poll finds worries over nuclear arsenal
Against the backdrop of the latest North Korean missile test, a new poll finds nearly two- thirds of Americans are extremely concerned the Pyongyang regime has nuclear weapons and say they would back the use of U. S. military force to protect allies in the region in the event of a conflict.
The Pew Research Center released the poll, taken well before the new missile test, on Wednesday, two days before a meeting between President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping in which North Korea’s behavior is likely to be high on the agenda.
U. S. and South Korean officials identified the projectile launched Wednesday as a KN- 15 medium- range missile, which was first publicly tested in February. After the initial test, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said the missile gives Pyongyang another nuclear attack capability against the United States and South Korea.
The missile uses pre- loaded solid fuel, which means it takes a shorter time to prepare the projectile for a launch than the liquid propellant missiles that make up most of North Korea’s arsenal.
U. S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson acknowledged Wednesday’s launch in a terse statement: “The United States has spoken enough about North Korea. We have no further comment.”
The topic is likely to be a major part of the talks Friday and Saturday between Trump and Xi.
As North Korea’s neighbor and primary economic partner, Beijing has enormous leverage on Pyongyang but has been reluctant to bring about the collapse of Kim’s government because of the danger of a flood of refugees.