In what could be described as threats of fire, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened North Korea of fire and fury like what has never happened on the world stage and Pyongyang said Wednesday it was examining the possibility of carrying out attack on the US territory of Guam.
The new wave of escalation of threats was as a result of new reports that Pyongyang has mastered a nuclear technology required to attack the US with intercontinental ballistic missiles.
North Korea’s capability
Despite the threat against Guam by the North Korean regime, Pyongyang will likely not want to risk the annihilation of its highly revered regime with an attack on US held territories.
Guam is one of US territories strategically located in the Pacific approximately 2,100 miles from the tensed korean peninsula. However, It is not quite clear the possibility of North Korea’s medium range ballistic missile attacking a target in such a distance considering the few times test on missiles of such capabilities had been conducted.
Pyongyang said it is carrying a study on a plan to strike Guam with medium to long-range nuclear weapons at the US Anderson Air Force Base in Guam. It was not quite clear if the North’s threat was in response to the US President’s statement.
South Korea said the Pyongyang’s latest threat harms moves to improve the relationship between the North and the South.
Ministry of Unification spokesperson Baek Tai-Hyun stated that South Korea supports both sanctions and dialogue aimed at resolving the North’s missile program and urged Pyongyang to end its renewed provocations.
Trump and Pyongyang’s rhetoric
Trump’s comment comes amid reports that showed Pyongyang is capable to launch a warhead with nuclear weapons including medium and long range ballistic missiles that could hit the US mainland.
For decades, the North has struggled to be able to hit the US and its Korean Peninsula allies. Its recent nuclear technology advancement is creating dire consequences for the stability in the Peninsula and beyond.
The Japanese assessment on Tuesday and the story published by the Washington Post that cited intelligence agency officials and Defense Department’s report confirmed Pyongyang’s capability. The report said North Korea’s military arsenal has up to 60 nuclear and ballistic missiles. The figure is more than double independents experts’ assessments on the country’s missile program.
