North Korea missile launch: What rogue state did over Easter
WHILE you were busy binging on chocolate and Netflix over the Easter break, North Korea pushed the world closer to the brink of nuclear war.
AS large parts of the world binged on chocolate and Netflix over Easter, North Korea pushed the world closer to the brink of nuclear war.
North Korea threatened, and also failed, to test a missile while the US warned the era of strategic patience is over.
Fears that a major conflict will erupt were further fuelled after North Korea warned “nuclear war may break out at any moment.”
A lot has happened over a few days, here’s what you may have missed.
PYONGYANG SHOWS OFF
Determined to prove it’s a military power, Pyongyang on Friday staged a huge military parade in which it showcased apparent intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Thousands of soldiers marched across Kim Il-sung Square to celebrate the 105th birth anniversary of the country’s late founder and grandfather of current ruler Kim Jong-un.
While many speculated a missile launch would take place, that didn’t happen and instead the country waited until the following day to show off its apparent might.
FAILURE TO LAUNCH
A North Korean missile blew up on its test launch on Sunday (7.21am AEST), the US Pacific Command said, hours before US Vice President Mike Pence was due in South Korea for talks on the North’s increasingly defiant arms program.
The ballistic missile launched happened less than a day after threatening the US with “nuclear justice”.
The launch of the ballistic missile occurred near Sinpo and the South Korean military confirmed the missile blew up almost immediately.
TRUMP PLAYS GOLF
While North Korea was busy testing the world’s patience, Donald Trump looked like he didn’t have a care in the world as he spent the long Easter weekend with the boys.
Mr Trump flew down to his golf course at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach on Thursday without his Chief of Staff Reince Priebus or other key advisers.
‘STRATEGIC PATIENCE OVER’
While the President was practising his swing, US Vice President Mike Pence visited Seoul and warned North Korea not to test Donald Trump’s resolve.
Speaking from the 4km-wide Demilitarised Zone between the two Koreas yesterday, the US Vice President said “all options are on the table” for dealing with Pyongyang and warned the “era of strategic patience” is over.
Mr Pence said the Trump administration was “confident” China would help to rein in North Korea but insisted the US would deal with the threat on its own if necessary.
“President Trump has made it clear that the patience of the United States and our allies in this region has run out and we want to see change,” Mr Pence said.
“We want to see North Korea abandon its reckless path of the development of nuclear weapons, and also its continual use and testing of ballistic missiles is unacceptable.”
Mr Pence arrived at the gateway to the Demilitarised Zone dividing the two Koreas, in a show of US resolve a day after North Korea failed in its attempt to test another missile.
‘WAR AT ANY MOMENT’
North Korea deputy United Nations ambassador Kim In-ryong has warned “nuclear war may break out at any moment”.
He also called the US a “gangster” hellbent on “disturbing peace and stability” and accused the Trump administration of turning the Korean peninsula into “the world’s biggest hotspot” and creating “a dangerous situation in which a thermonuclear war may break out at any moment”.
His warning comes as North Korea threatened “merciless military strikes” against the US.
North Korea’s deputy foreign minister, Sin Hong-chol, also told Al Jazeera that its army is on “maximum alert” and said “the time of dictating orders by brandishing the US military might has gone.”
Mr Trump has attempted to pressure China into doing more to stop North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons, but Mr Sin hinted this tactic would fail.
“The nuclear weapon in our possession is not illusion; it is not a commodity that may be traded for American dollars, nor is it for sale. So it cannot be put on the negotiating table with the aim to rip it off,” he said.
DEFIANT KIM
Meanwhile as the war of words continues between western allies and Pyongyang, North Korea’s Vice-Foreign Minister Han Song-ryol warned his country would continue to test missiles weekly, despite Mr Trump’s tough stance.
“We’ll be conducting more missile tests on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis,” he told the BBC’s John Sudworth.
He also emphasised that an “all-out war” could happen if the US took military action and his country wouldn't be afraid to hit back.
“If the US is planning a military attack against us, we will react with a nuclear pre-emptive strike by our own style and method,” he said.
He also told The Associated Press in an exclusive interview last Friday that Mr Trump’s tweets that the North is “looking for trouble” - have inflamed tensions.
“Trump is always making provocations with his aggressive words,” he said.
- with wires
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