North Korea's Kim holds off on Guam plan; U.S. says it can intercept missile

[webfact]

North Korea's Kim holds off on Guam plan; U.S. says it can intercept missile

By Christine Kim and Idrees Ali

 

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un guides the second test-fire of intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) Hwasong-14 in this undated picture provided by KCNA in Pyongyang on July 29, 2017. KCNA via Reuters

 

SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korea's leader has delayed a decision on firing missiles towards the U.S. territory of Guam while he watches the actions of the United States a little longer, the North's state media said on Tuesday, as Washington warned it would take out any missile heading for the Pacific island.

 

Pyongyang's detailed plans to land four missiles near Guam prompted a surge in tensions in the region last week, with U.S. President Donald Trump warning he would unleash "fire and fury" on North Korea if it threatened the United States.

 

In his first public appearance in about two weeks, Kim Jong Un inspected the command of the North's army on Monday, examining the plan for a long time and discussing it with army officers, the official KCNA said in a report.

 

"He said that if the Yankees persist in their extremely dangerous reckless actions on the Korean peninsula and in its vicinity, testing the self-restraint of the DPRK, the latter will make an important decision as it already declared," the report said.

 

The DPRK stands for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

 

"The United States, which was the first to bring numerous strategic nuclear equipment near us, should first make the right decision and show through actions if they wish to ease tensions on the Korean peninsula and prevent a dangerous military clash," Kim was cited as saying in the report by KCNA.

 

U.S. officials and South Korea's president in recent days have played down the risk of an imminent conflict while stressing their preparedness to respond militarily to any attack from North Korea.

 

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said on Monday the U.S. military would intercept a missile fired by North Korea if it was headed to Guam.

 

Mattis told reporters that the U.S. military would know the trajectory of a missile within moments and would "take it out" if it looked like it would hit the U.S. Pacific territory.

 

"The bottom line is, we will defend the country from an attack; for us (U.S. military) that is war," Mattis said.

 

For an interactive graphic on North Korea's missile capabilities click - http://tmsnrt.rs/2t6WEPL

 

For a graphic on North Korean missile trajectories, ranges click -http://tmsnrt.rs/2vLMdVm

 

SOUTH KOREA SAYS NO MORE WAR

 

Concern that North Korea is close to achieving its goal of putting the mainland United States within range of a nuclear weapon has ratcheted up global concerns in recent months.

 

The European Union’s top diplomat, Federica Mogherini, said the EU would intensify its diplomatic efforts with North Korea, the United States, South Korea, China, Russia and Japan.

 

Mogherini called on North Korea "to refrain from any further provocative action that can only increase regional and global tensions."

Tension on the Korean peninsula had eased slightly earlier on Monday as South Korea's president said resolving North Korea's nuclear ambitions must be done peacefully.

 

World stocks rose on Monday along with U.S. Treasury yields and the U.S. dollar as investors regained an appetite for riskier investments. [MKTS/GLOB]

 

"There must be no more war on the Korean peninsula. Whatever ups and downs we face, the North Korean nuclear situation must be resolved peacefully," President Moon Jae-in told a meeting with senior aides and advisers.

 

"I am certain the United States will respond to the current situation calmly and responsibly in a stance that is equal to ours," he said.

Tuesday marks the anniversary of Japan's expulsion from the Korean peninsula, a rare holiday celebrated by both the North and the South. Moon and Kim are both expected to make addresses on their respective sides of the heavily militarised border.

 

The United States and South Korea remain technically still at war with North Korea after the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended with a truce, not a peace treaty.

 

(Additional reporting by Soyoung Kim in Seoul; Writing by Lincoln Feast; Editing by Michael Perry)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-08-15

[NanLaew]

See? I told you Koreans can blink.

[rijb]

I think SK and Japan have the most skin in the game.  I'd like to hear more about how they want to handle this mess.

[steven100]

So it appears the North Korean Kim Jun has heeded President Trump's stern warning.

 

Good thought has prevailed Mr Kim Jun.

[rijb]

This is comforting...

 

Speaking Tuesday, South Korea President Moon Jae-in appeared to down play Mattis' comments, pointing out the US would need its approval before launching any attack on North Korea.

"Military action on the Korean Peninsula can only be decided by South Korea and no one else can decide to take military action without the consent of South Korea," said Moon in televised comments.

"The government, putting everything on the line, will block war by all means," he added.

 

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/08/14/politics/mattis-north-korea-guam-game-on/index.html

[ROGER DUNN]

This Kim Guy is a complete Fruit Loop , all of Nk's  population mesmerized by a mad man !!

[NanLaew]

56 minutes ago, steven100 said:

So it appears the North Korean Kim Jun has heeded President Trump's stern warning.

 

Good thought has prevailed Mr Kim Jun.

In a statement issued on Monday, North Korean state media warned that joint exercises by US and South Korea, due to start on 21 August, could trigger an accidental war at a time of high tensions.“The US should think twice about the consequences,” the statement said. “We are watching every move of the US.”

 

It appears that right now, we are in the interval before Act II.

[baboon]

8 minutes ago, NanLaew said:

In a statement issued on Monday, North Korean state media warned that joint exercises by US and South Korea, due to start on 21 August, could trigger an accidental war at a time of high tensions.“The US should think twice about the consequences,” the statement said. “We are watching every move of the US.”

 

It appears that right now, we are in the interval before Act II.

...and acting is all this whole manufactured crisis is. Nothing is going to happen.

[dunroaming]

5 hours ago, steven100 said:

So it appears the North Korean Kim Jun has heeded President Trump's stern warning.

 

Good thought has prevailed Mr Kim Jun.

Love the humour!  China has spoken and Trump and Kim are doing as they are told.  That is the reality and it was always going to be that way.

[craigt3365]

7 hours ago, rijb said:

I think SK and Japan have the most skin in the game.  I'd like to hear more about how they want to handle this mess.

Japan is deploying missile defense systems and has potentially said they might do a preemptive strike. What a mess Kim has stirred up.

[rijb]

19 minutes ago, craigt3365 said:

Japan is deploying missile defense systems and has potentially said they might do a preemptive strike. What a mess Kim has stirred up.

That's interesting.  SK said the U.S. would need their approval for any attack on NK.  And they will block war by any means.

 

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/08/14/politics/mattis-north-korea-guam-game-on/index.html

 

[dunroaming]

49 minutes ago, craigt3365 said:

Japan is deploying missile defense systems and has potentially said they might do a preemptive strike. What a mess Kim has stirred up.

Rubbish!

[stevenl]

7 hours ago, steven100 said:

So it appears the North Korean Kim Jun has heeded President Trump's stern warning.

 

Good thought has prevailed Mr Kim Jun.

Disagree. First Trump provokes Kim to say things he should not say, and then escalates it even further. I can only hope he keeps his mouth shut on this, like he has been doing the last days, so the wiser men can sort things out, like it appears they have been doing.

 

Neither country wants these kind of problems, the kind one big mouth caused.

Edited August 15, 2017 by stevenl

[klikster]

9 hours ago, steven100 said:

So it appears the North Korean Kim Jun has heeded President Trump's stern warning.

 

Good thought has prevailed Mr Kim Jun.

Could have something (more?) to do with China's stern warning as well.

[craigt3365]

5 hours ago, rijb said:

That's interesting.  SK said the U.S. would need their approval for any attack on NK.  And they will block war by any means.

 

http://edition.cnn.com/2017/08/14/politics/mattis-north-korea-guam-game-on/index.html

 

Understood! The question was also about Japan.

[craigt3365]

5 hours ago, dunroaming said:

Rubbish!

Really?

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-161041/Japans-war-threat-North-Korea.html

With North Korea warning it could strike US targets anywhere in the world, Japan's defence minister Shigeru Ishiba said it was ready to carry out a pre-emptive strike with ballistic missiles.

[212Roger]

Thank you Trump; I never had to worry.  N. Korea knows Trump is not to be messed with.  He talks the talk and walks the walk.  Totally unlike Clinton, Bush, and Obama.  Our last three Presidents just passed the buck... 

[Dave67]

Probably shitting his pants knowing the US is cable on intercepting any missile fired in the direction Guam lessening  fatboys chance of threatening an attack on the US as well as the massive loss of face

[ilostmypassword]

4 hours ago, 212Roger said:

Thank you Trump; I never had to worry.  N. Korea knows Trump is not to be messed with.  He talks the talk and walks the walk.  Totally unlike Clinton, Bush, and Obama.  Our last three Presidents just passed the buck... 

Reallly? Does anyone on the right remember Syria? How has Trump proved he walks the walk? He is known chiefly as someone who lies all the time.

[ilostmypassword]

12 minutes ago, Dave67 said:

Probably shitting his pants knowing the US is cable on intercepting any missile fired in the direction Guam lessening  fatboys chance of threatening an attack on the US as well as the massive loss of face

Are you quite sure that US missiles can intercept Kim's ICBM? The Pentagon has a record of publishing misleading reports about the tests. It would be pretty embarrassing if the missiles failed.

Edited August 16, 2017 by ilostmypassword

[webfact]

North Korea delays Guam missile firing; U.S. says dialogue up to Kim

By Christine Kim and Yeganeh Torbati

 

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un claps with military officers at the Command of the Strategic Force of the Korean People's Army (KPA) in an unknown location in North Korea in this undated photo released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on August 15, 2017. KCNA/via REUTERS

 

SEOUL/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has delayed a decision on firing missiles towards Guam while he waits to see what the United States does, the North's state media reported on Tuesday as the United States said any dialogue was up to Kim.

 

The United States and South Korea have prepared for more joint military drills, which has infuriated the North, and experts warned Pyongyang could still go ahead with a provocative plan.

 

In his first public appearance in about two weeks, Kim inspected the command of the North's army on Monday, examining a plan to fire four missiles aimed at landing near the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam, the official KCNA news agency reported.

 

"He said that if the Yankees persist in their extremely dangerous reckless actions on the Korean peninsula and in its vicinity, testing the self-restraint of the DPRK, the latter will make an important decision as it already declared," KCNA said.

 

The DPRK stands for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

 

In photos released with the KCNA report, Kim was seen holding a baton and pointing at a map showing a flight path for the missiles appearing to start from North Korea's east coast, flying over Japan towards Guam.

 

North Korea has often threatened to attack the United States and its bases and released similar photos in the past but never followed through.

 

Pyongyang's latest threat prompted a surge in tensions in the region last week, with U.S. President Donald Trump saying the U.S. military was "locked and loaded" if North Korea acted unwisely.

 

But U.S. officials have taken a gentler tone in recent days.

 

Asked by reporters on Tuesday about the North Korean delay, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said it was up to Kim to decide if he wants to talk to the United States.

 

“We continue to be interested in finding a way to get to dialogue but that’s up to him,” Tillerson told reporters.

 

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said North Korea's decision to hold off was not enough and Pyongyang would have to show it was "intent on denuclearising the Korean peninsula."

 

"I think they would have to do quite a bit more," Nauert said, adding, "They know what they need to do to get us to come to the negotiating table.

 

For an interactive graphic on North Korea's missile capabilities click - http://tmsnrt.rs/2t6WEPL

 

For a graphic on North Korean missile trajectories, ranges click - http://bit.ly/2w8fdrc

 

PREVENT WAR

 

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Tuesday his government would prevent war by all means.

 

"Military action on the Korean peninsula can only be decided by South Korea and no one else can decide to take military action without the consent of South Korea," Moon said in a speech to commemorate the anniversary of the nation's liberation from Japanese military rule in 1945.

 

"The government, putting everything on the line, will block war by all means," Moon said.

 

The Liberation Day holiday, celebrated by both North and South, will be followed next week by joint U.S.-South Korean military drills.

 

Asian shares rose for a second day on Tuesday after Kim's comments. The U.S. dollar and Treasury yields climbed after solid U.S. retail data and the easing in U.S.-North Korean rhetoric.

 

North Korea has continued to develop its nuclear and missile programmes to ward off perceived U.S. hostility, in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions and sanctions.

 

A new study by a London-based think tank and an article in the New York Times that cited it said North Korea had obtained rocket engines probably from a Ukrainian factory via illicit networks.

 

But U.S. intelligence officials said on Tuesday that North Korea has the ability to produce its own missile engines and intelligence suggests the country does not need to rely on imports.

 

Japan will seek further reassurance from Washington in meetings between Japan's defence chief and foreign minister and their U.S. counterparts on Thursday.

 

"The strategic environment is becoming harsher and we need to discuss how we will respond to that," a Japanese foreign ministry official said in a briefing in Tokyo.

 

"We will look for the U.S. to reaffirm its defence commitment, including the nuclear deterrent."

 

China, North Korea's main ally and trading partner, has repeatedly urged Pyongyang to halt its weapons programme and at the same time urged South Korea and the United States to stop military drills to lower tensions.

 

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in a telephone conversation with Sigmar Gabriel, Germany's minister for foreign affairs, said tensions on the Korean peninsula were showing some signs of easing but had not passed.

 

The parties involved should "make a correct judgement and wise choice by taking a responsible attitude towards history and people," Wang said, according to a statement on the Chinese foreign ministry's website.

 

U.S. Senator Edward Markey, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee's panel on East Asia, announced on Tuesday he would lead a delegation to Korea, Japan and China.

 

“The unity of purpose between the United States and our allies in South Korea, Japan, and China is critical in the face of Pyongyang’s increasing nuclear threat,” Markey said in a statement.

 

Kim Dong-yub, a professor and military expert at Kyungnam University's Institute of Far Eastern Studies in Seoul, urged caution in assuming North Korea was bluffing with its missile threats.

 

"There is no stepping back for North Korea. Those who don't know the North very well fall into this trap every time (thinking they are easing threats) but we've seen this before."

 

The United States and South Korea remain technically at war with North Korea after the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended with a truce, not a peace treaty.

 

North Korea is currently holding three U.S. citizens it accuses of espionage or hostile acts, but now is not the right time to discuss them, KCNA reported, citing a foreign ministry spokesman.

 

Pyongyang has used detainees to extract concessions, including high-profile visitors from the United States, which has no formal diplomatic relations with North Korea.

 

(Additional reporting by Soyoung Kim and Jane Chung in Seoul, Tim Kelly in Tokyo, Ben Blanchard in Beijing, John Ruwitch in Shanghai and Jonathan Landay in Washington; Writing by Lincoln Feast, Alistair Bell and Amanda Becker; Editing by Jeffrey Benkoe, James Dalgleish and Lisa Shumaker)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-08-16

[Jack100]

Due  to Trumps brilliant negotiating skills , honed in the cut and thrust of countless  New York  real estate  deals -  plus the good cop/bad cop routine with Mcmanus   !  Poor Kim never had a chance ................

 

[Golgota]

2 minutes ago, Jack100 said:

Due  to Trumps brilliant negotiating skills , honed in the cut and thrust of countless  New York  real estate  deals -  plus the good cop/bad cop routine with Mcmanus   !  Poor Kim never had a chance ................

 

As long as the music plays, the dance is not over

[Dave67]

27 minutes ago, ilostmypassword said:

Are you quite sure that US missiles can intercept Kim's ICBM? The Pentagon has a record of publishing misleading reports about the tests. It would be pretty embarrassing if the missiles failed.

Not sure no but would Mr Kim take the chance of that happening? The US Stated THAAD as their defence if an NK missile was heading towards  Guam, earlier this week

Edited August 16, 2017 by Dave67

[ilostmypassword]

29 minutes ago, Jack100 said:

Due  to Trumps brilliant negotiating skills , honed in the cut and thrust of countless  New York  real estate  deals -  plus the good cop/bad cop routine with Mcmanus   !  Poor Kim never had a chance ................

 

You clearly set a very low bar for success.

[coconuthead]

15 hours ago, craigt3365 said:

Really?

 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-161041/Japans-war-threat-North-Korea.html

With North Korea warning it could strike US targets anywhere in the world, Japan's defence minister Shigeru Ishiba said it was ready to carry out a pre-emptive strike with ballistic missiles.

 

are you serious quoting the daily mail?

 

they are one of the biggest fake news fabricators in the UK

[Beats56]

Kim knew if he pushed farther.he be a dead man. He blinked.and lost.

Ok Kim go.eat some more cheese like the mouse you are.

[ilostmypassword]

4 minutes ago, Beats56 said:

Kim knew if he pushed farther.he be a dead man. He blinked.and lost.

Ok Kim go.eat some more cheese like the mouse you are.

So he doesn't have nuclear weapons anymore?

 

[Beats56]

15 minutes ago, ilostmypassword said:

So he doesn't have nuclear weapons anymore?

 

Maybe but not not nearly as destructive that US can rain on him.

 

[ilostmypassword]

Just now, Beats56 said:

Maybe but not not nearly as destructive that US can rain on him.

 

And that's a new situation?