North Korea threatens attack on US base at Guam after reports it has missile-ready nuclear warhead
AS President Trump threatens ‘fire and fury’, US defence intelligence analysts have warned North Korea has the capacity to manufacture 12 new nuclear warheads each year.
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NORTH Korea has the capacity to manufacture 12 nuclear warheads each year, US defence intelligence analysts warn, as President Trump threatens ‘fire and fury’ over news these are now small enough to attach to a missile.
The Diplomat reports the Defense Intelligence Agency report which sparked the President’s apocalyptic outburst contains more detail about advances in Kim Jong-un’s nuclear program than was reported this morning.
It says sources have since told it that North Korea is ‘fully capable’ of amassing enough fissile material - nuclear byproducts capable of producing an explosion - to fuel an annual production rate of 12 warheads every 12 months.
FIRE AND FURY: This is what a war with North Korea could look like
These were of a design that could be mated to the Hwasong 14 intercontinental and Hwasong 12 intermediate range ballistic missiles, as well as possibly the Pukkuksong solid-fuel missiles which include a variant being built for Pyongyang’s submarines.
This morning’s Washington Post report stated North Korea may already have stockpiled enough fissile material in total for 60 nuclear warheads.
‘FIRE AND FURY’
US President Donald Trump has issued an apocalyptic warning of “fire and fury like the world has never seen” after reports North Korea has produced a missile-ready nuke.
Hours later, a spokesman for the North Korean People’s Army stated a plan was being formulated to attack the US military base on the Pacific island of Guam.
The report carried by the state-run KCNA news agency said “the execution of this plan will offer an occasion for the Yankees to be the first to experience the might of the strategic weapons of the DPRK,”.
The attack plan will be “put into practice” once leader Kim Jong-un makes a decision.
“If the Yankees brandish the nuclear stick on this land again despite our repeated warnings, we will clearly teach them how to behave with the nuclear strategic force which we have shown them one by one so far,” an earlier KCNA commentary quoted a senior official as saying.
Meanwhile, US strategic B-1B bombers have arrived on Guam from the mainland, declaring on social media that they are “ready to #fighttonight” and Hawaii has ordered the urgent formulation of a civil defence plan, to be initiated by the end of the week.
S. Dakota #Airmen arrive on Guam; conduct #bilateral missions w/Japan & ROK--U.S. ready to #fighttonight https://t.co/DhOTTdNT19 pic.twitter.com/HSOkYKHPQ4
— PACAF (@PACAF) August 8, 2017
GUAM ‘READY’
Defence officials on Guam say they believe there is no imminent threat to people there or in the Northern Mariana Islands .
Guam’s Department of Homeland Security and Office of Civil Defense say they are monitoring North Korea with US military and government officials. Guam’s homeland security adviser, George Charfauros, said officials were confident “the US Department of Defense is monitoring this situation very closely and is maintaining a condition of readiness”.
Take a spin around a Patriot launcher with this new interactive 3D model https://t.co/9EaQE5mW7e #SMDSymposium pic.twitter.com/0S87wvGJxb
— CSIS Missile Defense (@Missile_Defense) August 8, 2017
Charfauros in his statement urged calm and said defences were in place on Guam and its neighbouring Pacific islands for threats such as North Korea. His comments came as the speaker of the Guam legislature said he hoped the island could defend itself.
“We’re just praying that the United States and the ... defence system we have here is sufficient enough to protect us,” Benjamin J Cruz told the Associated Press in a telephone interview.
It’s also not the first time North Korea has threatened to attack Guam. It did so in 2016.
NUCLEAR FALLOUT
The war of words flared up after US officials reportedly confirmed the Pyongyang regime has successfully produced a miniaturised nuclear warhead that can fit inside its missiles.
If true, the development means the rogue state has crossed a key threshold on the path to becoming a fully-fledged nuclear power. It also means it is potentially capable of packing the weapon of mass destruction inside an intercontinental ballistic missile.
The claims were made in the Washington Post , citing a confidential assessment by the US Defense Intelligence Agency.
The revelation comes a day after North Korea said it would launch a “thousands-fold” revenge against the US over the adoption of tough UN sanctions imposed after its intercontinental ballistic missile launches.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has welcomed the UN Security Council’s “harsh” new sanctions on North Korea.
“The North Korean regime’s conduct is as illegal as it is reckless, provocative and dangerous,” the Prime Minister said at Parliament today.
“It threatens the peace and stability of the region and the world and they have to come to their senses. Every economic pressure that can be imposed must be imposed and Australia is playing its part.”
Mr Turnbull again called on China to use its unique leverage to haul Pyongyang into line.
“We welcome, in particular, China’s support for these strong and much-more harsh sanctions imposed by the Security Council,” he said.
TEACHING ‘YANKEES’ HOW TO BEHAVE
“The provocative ‘preventive war’ the US has devised…will be countered with a just all-out war of wiping out…the US mainland.”
These inciteful words come from one of several statements issued by North Korean state news agency KCNA this morning in response to President Trump’s apocalyptic outburst.
They warn “the nuclear war hysteria of the US authorities including Trump has reached an extremely reckless and rash phase for an actual war”.
KCNA highlights flyovers by US nuclear strategic bombers as being the cause for drawing up plans to strike their base on the island of Guam - 3,400 kilometers away.
“Such military manoeuvres of the US may provoke a dangerous conflict under the present extremely acute situation prevailing,” a statement reads.
“This grave situation requires the KPA to closely watch Guam, the outpost and beachhead for invading the DPRK, and necessarily take practical actions of significance to neutralise it.”
Guam is one of several naval and air facilities maintained by the US in the region, including Okinawa,
“The KPA Strategic Force is now carefully examining the operational plan for making an enveloping fire at the areas around Guam with medium-to-long range strategic ballistic rocket Hwasong-12 in order to contain the US major military bases on Guam ...”, the statement says.
“The execution of this plan will offer an occasion for the Yankees to be the first to experience the might of the strategic weapons of the DPRK”
TRUMP PROMISES FIRE
Following the report of North Korea successfully miniaturising a nuclear device, Mr Trump told a press briefing that North Korea would be met with “fire and fury like the world has never seen” if they made any more threats to the United States.
Speaking while on vacation at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, Mr Trump said: “He (Kim Jong-un) has been very threatening beyond a normal state. North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States.”
After many years of failure,countries are coming together to finally address the dangers posed by North Korea. We must be tough & decisive!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 8, 2017
He added: “He has been very threatening. As I said, they will be met with fire, fury and frankly power the likes of which this world has never seen before.”
Officials at the DIA would not comment on the report. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has not commented.
FEARSOME ARSENAL
The latest revelations come a month after the US said that it believed that up to 60 nuclear weapons are now controlled by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, far more than previously thought.
Japan’s Defence Ministry concluded in an annual white paper released yesterday that “it is possible that North Korea has achieved the miniaturisation of nuclear weapons and has developed nuclear warheads.” Japan, a key US ally, is also a potential target of North Korean aggression.
It has on several occasions deployed Patriot Missile Defence batteries around key cities and military sites to counter North Korea’s missile threats.
EXPLORE MORE: How Kim Jong-un’s nukes work
The most recent ICBM test saw the failed re-entry vehicle splash down into waters off Japan’s Hokkaido island.
Intelligence analysts have been shocked by the rapid development of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. Many analysts had believed it would be years before the country’s weapons scientists could design a miniaturised nuclear warhead.
Tension has been running high since the nuclear-armed North staged two successful ICBM tests last month, sparking global alarm over its rapidly-advancing weapons capabilities.
GROWING ALARM
News of the capacity to launch a nuclear warhead and the follow-up threat to attack US forces on Guam have caused alarm in US Congress.
Republican Senator John McCain says “great leaders” don’t threaten foes unless they’re ready to act - and he’s not certain President Donald Trump is ready to act against North Korea.
McCain, who heads the Armed Services Committee, made the comments in an interview on KTAR News in Phoenix.
McCain says he takes exception to Trump’s comments “because you got to be sure you can do what you say you’re going to do.”
Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo has issued a statement saying she was “deeply troubled”, but was “confident that Guam remains safe and protected”.
However, she urged President Trump to work with the international community to “de-escalate the growing tensions in the region and prevent North Korea from advancing its nuclear program further”.
Meanwhile, the US state of Hawaii says it has begun formulating a civil preparedness plan for North Korean missile attack.
“We do not want to cause any undue stress for the public,” Hawaii’s Emergency Management Agency administrator said in a statement. “(But) we cannot wait to begin our public information campaign to ensure that Hawaii residents will know what do if such an event occurs.”
He says the plan will be unveiled on Friday.
‘PREPARED’ FOR MILITARY ACTION
Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Chris Logan said the United States seeks a peaceful de-nuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula, but he warned military action is never off the table.
“We remain prepared to defend ourselves and our allies and to use the full range of capabilities at our disposal against the growing threat from North Korea,” Logan said.
It's time to get serious about homeland missile defense: https://t.co/kjRZSYMisZ @CSIS pic.twitter.com/5G4qaK68aN
— CSIS Missile Defense (@Missile_Defense) August 2, 2017
The State Department declined to comment on the Post report, but Deputy Secretary of State John Sullivan said the department continues to work to make sure China and other countries enforce tough new sanctions.
“We’re not going to come to the table until the North Koreans have committed to” stopping their missile tests, Sullivan said.
INTERNATIONAL REACTION
The North’s statement came two days after the UN Security Council unanimously approved new sanctions to punish the North including a ban on coal and other exports worth over $US1 billion (A$1.26 billion).
Pyongyang’s statement said the sanctions were caused by a “heinous US plot to isolate and stifle” North Korea.
Get your Hwasong-14 ICBM first flight-test commemorative stamps! Newly released by #NorthKorea. (via KCNA) pic.twitter.com/xvyrXYWDf0
— Ankit Panda (@nktpnd) August 8, 2017
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Earlier on Tuesday Mr Trump offered couched praise for the international coalition coming together to pressure North Korea over its intercontinental ballistic missile launches.
“After many years of failure, countries are coming together to finally address the dangers posed by North Korea. We must be tough & decisive! ,” the US leader wrote on Twitter.
ENGINEERING CHALLENGE
Despite the advance, North Korea still must overcome technical hurdles before it can claim to have perfected its nuclear weapons technology.
After Kim’s second ICBM test, experts said it appeared the “re-entry vehicle” that would carry a warhead back into Earth’s atmosphere from space had failed.
Without proper protection during a re-entry stage, a missile’s warhead would burn up.
“North Korea likely made some of the key measurements required to define those extreme conditions during the two July tests, but I can’t imagine it has learned enough to confidently make a warhead that is small and light enough and sufficiently robust to survive,” Stanford University expert Siegfried Hecker said in an interview with the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
Watch: July 30 THAAD Intercept Test pic.twitter.com/1KRX4eVfft
— CSIS Missile Defense (@Missile_Defense) July 31, 2017
The former Los Alamos National Laboratory director said he did not think North Korea yet has sufficient missile or nuclear test experience “to field a nuclear warhead that is sufficiently small, light and robust to survive an ICBM delivery.”
News that Kim appears to have produced a small nuclear warhead comes as international tensions around Pyongyang’s program ratchet up ever higher.
“Especially since last year, when it pushed ahead with two nuclear tests and launched more than 20 ballistic missiles, it has posed a new level of threat,” Japan’s defence ministry said in its annual report.
Japan, which lies across the sea from North Korea, has been wary for decades over its missile development as well as Pyongyang’s history of abducting Japanese citizens to train its spies.
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