Daily Mail: The next one is heading for Guam': Giggling tyrant Kim Jong-un warns he will target US Pacific base and fire more rockets over 'cruel' neighbour Japan after overseeing 'curtain raiser' ballistic missile launch
* North Korea's test missile launch saw a ballistic missile fly over northern Japan
* Kim Jong-un expressed satisfaction and warned it was merely a 'curtain raiser'
* State media called it a 'meaningful prelude to containing' US Pacific base Guam
* US Ambassador to the UN said it was time Pyongyang recognised the 'danger they are putting themselves in'
Kim Jong-un was there in person to oversee the launch of North Korea's latest long-range ballistic missile test which flew 1,700 miles over Japan.
The dictator was pictured laughing with top officials as the Hwasong-12 was unleashed on Tuesday and later warned the launch was a mere 'curtain raiser'.
State media boasted that the test was timed to mark the 107th anniversary of the 'disgraceful' Japan-Korea treaty of 1910, under which Tokyo colonised the Korean peninsula.
It was part of 'a bold plan to make the cruel Japanese islanders insensible on bloody August 29', the KCNA agency said, adding that the test was a 'meaningful prelude to containing Guam', the US Pacific base.
This morning, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley warned America will not allow North Korea's lawlessness to continue adding it is time for Pyongyang to recognise the 'danger they are putting themselves in' as the world is united against them.
Read more ....
More News On The North Korean Crisis
North Korea releases images of latest Hwasong-12 missile launch -- UPI
Dramatic video of Kim Jong-un overseeing missile launch released -- The Telegraph
North Korea warns Guam is next target after ICBM launch -- International Business Times
Tension boils as North Korea says missile strikes near Guam are still a possibility -- Quartz
UN condemns 'outrageous' North Korea missile launch, Pyongyang says more to come -- CNBC
Trump Says US Is Paying 'Extortion Money' to North Korea -- New York Times
Donald Trump says 'talking not the answer' to North Korea crisis -- The Guardian
Trump says 'talking not the answer' on North Korea -- Reuters
UN Condemns North Korea's Latest Missile Tests, but Takes No Action -- New York Times
'All options on the table'? North Korea fires ballistic missile over Japan -- France 24
After Missile Tests, North and South Korea Wage War of Pictures -- New York Times
This is not going to end well...
ReplyDeleteCan someone enlighten me on the strategic benefit of this? To me, this seems like a good way to get more sanctions, lose China's support, and get blown to bits...how much longer will the U.S watch the Hermit Kingdom try to reach them with a missile...or if your in Japan literally watch a missile fly over your house?
ReplyDeleteIf they were afraid they might miss all the more reason to try so they can learn from their mistakes and limitations. One day a missile will actually be armed and aimed at them and it will be too late. A self defeating response to a missile launched over your country and a definite signal to the "enemy" that you are weak.
ReplyDeleteSean Austin,
ReplyDeleteNorth Korea's actions make sense if one makes the following assumptions:
1. The USA will not risk nuclear attack on its own territory in order to defend either South Korea, or even Japan.
2. If North Korea can strike American territory with nuclear weapons, the USA will withdraw its forces from South Korea and, in effect, abandon its alliance with South Korea. South Korea will then be at the mercy of the Fat Boy to cut the best deal they can with him.
Now in reality both assumptions may very well be incorrect. Suppose both assumptions are incorrect. The objective falsity of North Korea's assumptions does not prove that the North Korean leadership does not think they are true. These are risks Fat Boy and his advisors are willing to run in order to finally settle the Korean War, on North Korea's terms. The risks are high, but so are the benefits if North Korea is right. At best, South Korea would become a client state of the DPRK, nominally independent but at the cost of massive transfer payments to North Korea indefinitely. At worst, South Korea becomes provinces of a unified DPRK controlling the whole peninsula.
North Korea's assumptions are not irrational. Since at least the first Bush Administration, every U.S. President has said that North Korea's possession of nuclear weapons and missiles is not acceptable, but no Administration has actually done anything to stop North Korea. The consequences of Korean War II are so awful that all Administrations, of both parties, have shrank from a confrontation to halt North Korea's progress. Now that North Korea has nukes, the risks of Korean War II are even higher.
I think that Fat Boy and his advisors doubt the threats that the USA and Japan make. In their view, we have been bluffing, and continue to bluff. I think that China likely shares North Korea's assumptions, which helps explain their inactivity.
The real risk is that the USA is not bluffing. In that event, Korean War II might really happen.
Publius.
ReplyDeleteCould not have said it any better. But we should not forget about South Korea. The environment and willing to compromise is changing in that country .... they are becoming more independent from the U.S., but they are also developing a very strong contempt of the North Korean leadership .... nuclear weapons or no nuclear weapons.
Thanks for the reply that makes sense to me when viewing it from their shoes.
ReplyDeleteLaunching the missile over Japan was a gutsy move considering their missiles are known to fail. I suppose that was to prove that their missiles are reliable enough that they can confidently launch it over another country while also getting away with it...quite the ego boost(Imagine what the media in North Korea is saying).
Speaking of ego, I don't think Trump would ever be strong armed out of North Korea by Fatty... I suppose Fatty has to live up to his reputation of fighting off the evil U.S to prove to his people he is the good guy because that's all he really has going for him.
If the citizens of the Hermit Kingdom knew what their life could be like, the country would have sorted itself out by now.