and South Korean navies on Monday began a joint drill involving around 40 warships, amid signs North Korea is preparing for another provocation such as a missile launch.
The exercise will continue through Friday on waters on both sides of the Korean Peninsula, according to a South Korean defense official, who asked not to be named due to internal policy. South Korean media reports over the weekend said North Korean missile vehicles “kept appearing and disappearing” from the map and “transporter erector launchers” had been spotted carrying ballistic missiles from near Pyongyang and North Pyongan province.
“Anything could happen especially before China’s party convention on Oct. 18 and during the time between post-drills and Trump’s visits in the region,” said Shin Beomchul, a professor at the Korea National Diplomatic Academy in Seoul. “There is also the possibility for North Korea to test shorter-ranged ballistic missiles, which in the past did not lead to UN sanctions." Historically, the North had tended not to provoke directly during the military drills.
North Korea’s state-run media agency KCNA on Saturday criticized the joint military exercise, calling it a “reckless act of war maniacs.” Earlier, the White House said U. President Donald Trump will travel to Asia from Nov. Navy units participating in the exercise include USS Stethem, USS Ronald Reagan, and USS Mustin, Phillip Sawyer, commander of the U. 7th Fleet, said last week.
Fighter Jets
Separately, F-35A and F-22 stealth fighter jets, B-1B bombers and RQ-4 surveillance drones, will participate in the Seoul International Aerospace & Defense Exhibition being held from Tuesday through Friday, although they won’t be armed, according to the South Korean official.
North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 3, and has launched more than a dozen missiles this year as Kim Jong Un’s regime seeks the capability to hit the continental U. with an atomic weapon. The United Nations has imposed stringent sanctions on North Korea for its weapons tests.
Trump has said all options -- including military -- are on the table to stop Kim, and the White House ruled out talks with Pyongyang, but Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the president wants him to push forward on diplomacy with North Korea “until the first bomb drops.”
A war of words has escalated between the two leaders in recent weeks, with Trump labeling Kim “Rocket Man” and telling the UN that the U. would “totally destroy” North Korea if it attacks. Kim responded by calling Trump a “dotard” and warning of the "highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history.”
Hydrogen Bomb
Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho suggested last month that could include testing a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean. He later said the U. had declared war and his country had the right to shoot down American warplanes flying in international airspace. The comments came shortly after U. bombers and fighter jets flew near its eastern coastline.
North Korea on Sept. 15 fired its second missile over Japan in as many months, a rocket that flew far enough to put the U. territory of Guam in range. The country has repeatedly threatened to launch a missile near the American territory in the Pacific.
In July, North Korea fired two ICBMs on steep trajectories into the sea between the Korean peninsula and Japan. The regime said those launches put the entire U. in its range.
Australia Warned
North Korea also turned its focus on Australia at the weekend, warning the U. ally of the risks of siding with Trump.
Joining the U. in seeking to increase pressure on North Korea would mean Australia “will not be able to avoid a disaster,” the state-run Korean Central News Agency on Saturday cited a Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying. “Australia is showing dangerous moves of zealously joining the frenzied political and military provocations of the U.,” the spokesman was quoted as saying, citing Foreign Minister Julie Bishop’s visit last week to South Korea.
China’s Communist Party Congress, scheduled to open Wednesday, could be a trigger for new provocative action by North Korea, Bishop told reporters Sunday. North Korea has sought in the past to embarrass China at times when the country is a focus of global attention, she said.
— With assistance by David Stringer.
0 comments:
Post a Comment