Firing back at N. Korea
Live exercises after Kim’s test
THE U.S. and South Korea conducted live-fire exercises Saturday after North Korea launched into space an intercontinental ballistic missile that analysts say could have reached Chicago.
The Saturday morning display of U.S.-South Korea military muscle was designed to put North Korea on notice after it test-fired its second missile of the month.
The late Friday launch flew longer and higher than the first, putting in range the entire western half of the U.S., experts say.
Military analysts said the ballistic missile launched by the hermetic nation July 4 could have struck Alaska.
Late Saturday, President Trump again engaged in foreign policy by tweet, with a post scolding China for not doing more to rein in North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
“I am very disappointed in China,” Trump tweeted. “Our foolish past leaders have allowed them to make hundreds of billions of dollars a year in trade.
“Yet they do NOTHING for us with North Korea, just talk. We will no longer allow this to continue. China could easily solve this problem!”
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, speaking earlier Saturday, said the latest display of his country’s military might send a “serious warning” to the United States, which has been “meaninglessly blowing its trumpet” with threats of war and stronger sanctions, according to staterun TV.
In a sign of the increasing tensions in the region, South Korea announced that it plans to hold talks with the U.S. about allowing Seoul to produce more powerful ballistic missiles.
Meanwhile, North Koreans cheered the news of their country’s latest missile test while state media broadcast images of a projectile screaming through the night sky.
“I feel really confident,” said Pak Gi Nam, a student.
“From now on, we will develop and have the strongest weapons, strategic weapons, so we can safeguard our sovereignty and independence, so that we can end up winning against the imperialists and against America.”