General tamps down N. Korea fear.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un appeared to take a step back from the brink of nuclear war earlier today, when state media reported that he would “watch a little more the foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees.”
But, as is often the case with North Korea, the message was mixed: Kim was inspecting the missile unit tasked with preparing to strike near Guam, and photos released by state media showed a large satellite image of Andersen Air Force Base on Guam on the screen beside the leader.
“The U.S. should stop at once arrogant provocations against the DPRK and unilateral demands and not provoke it any longer,” the North Korean leader told his missile unit, according to a report from the staterun Korean Central News Agency published Tuesday.
If “the Yankees persist in their extremely dangerous reckless actions on the Korean peninsula and in its vicinity,” Kim continued, North Korea would “make an important decision as it already declared,” he said.
Kim was visiting the Strategic Force of the Korean People’s Army, the elite missile unit that — according to state media — is finalizing preparations to launch ballistic missiles into the Pacific Ocean near the American territory of Guam. A decision was due this week, a week during which the Kim regime is celebrating the ruling family with huge propaganda displays in North Korea.
Kim “praised the KPA Strategic Force for drawing up a close and careful plan . . . and examined the firing preparations for power demonstration,” the report said.
“He said that he wants to advise the U.S., which is driving the situation on the Korean peninsula into the touch-and-go situation, running helter-skelter, to take into full account gains and losses with clear head whether the prevailing situation is more unfavorable for any party,” the report quoted Kim as saying.
This came just hours after the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told South Korean leaders Monday that the United States was ready to use the “full range” of its military capabilities to deal with North Korea.
But Gen. Joseph Dunford, speaking in Seoul, just 30 miles south of the border with North Korea, stressed that diplomacy and sanctions were the first plan of attack.
“The military dimension today is directly in support of that diplomatic and economic effort,” Dunford told reporters after meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in Seoul.
“It would be a horrible thing were a war to be conducted here on the peninsula, and that’s why we’re so focused on coming up with a peaceful way ahead,” he said, according to Stars and Stripes.
“Nobody’s looking for war,” the Marine general said, according to the newspaper. But he added that the military’s job was to provide “viable military options in the event that deterrence fails.”
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Monday afternoon in Washington that it will be “game on” with North Korea if it hits the United States, including Guam, but he left it much more ambiguous what will happen if Pyongyang decides to shoot missiles near Guam, without attempting to hit the U.S. island territory.
China, meanwhile, signaled a potentially important break with North Korea as part of international sanctions. Beijing announced Monday that it would ban imports of iron ore, iron, lead and coal from North Korea, cutting an important economic lifeline for Pyongyang. The ban will take effect today, China’s Ministry of Commerce announced.