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As North Korea threatens to fire an intercontinental ballistic missile, South Korea and the US on Monday warned the communist state against any further provocations they said would be met with stern military and diplomatic reactions.
The North’s Foreign Ministry said late Sunday the ICBM could be launched “at any time and any place,” adding that it had developed miniaturized warheads.
A North Korean propaganda outlet, Korea Today, on Monday repeated its call for a halt in South Korea-US joint defense drills, saying Seoul should “make a determination” so as to prevent cross-border military clashes and defuse tension.
The claims are in line with leader Kim Jong-un’s New Year’s address in which he said preparations for an ICBM launch were in the “final stage,” vowing to achieve “pre-emptive strike capabilities based on nuclear power” unless the allies cease the exercises.
The North’s Foreign Ministry said late Sunday the ICBM could be launched “at any time and any place,” adding that it had developed miniaturized warheads.
A North Korean propaganda outlet, Korea Today, on Monday repeated its call for a halt in South Korea-US joint defense drills, saying Seoul should “make a determination” so as to prevent cross-border military clashes and defuse tension.
The claims are in line with leader Kim Jong-un’s New Year’s address in which he said preparations for an ICBM launch were in the “final stage,” vowing to achieve “pre-emptive strike capabilities based on nuclear power” unless the allies cease the exercises.
In response, US Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said the country was ready to shoot down North Korean missiles “if it were coming toward our territory or the territory of our friends and allies.”
“Their nuclear weapons and ballistic missile defense programs are a serious threat to us,” he said in an interview with NBC News.
“We try to stay ahead of that and we are staying ahead of that with our missile defenses to make sure we’ve upgraded their number, their type, so that we’re sure we can defend ourselves.”
Justin Higgins, a spokesperson at the State Department’s East Asian and Pacific affairs bureau, also said the US was capable of countering a North Korean missile attack, pledging to further intensify sanctions and pressure to “raise the cost” for the regime’s provocations.
Following Kim’s speech, speculation has been rising that the regime is gearing up to test-fire the KN-08 ICBM in the first half of this year to coincide with presidential transitions in Seoul and Washington.
The reports came as Kim Kwan-jin, chief of Seoul’s presidential National Security Council, visits Washington to meet with aides of President-elect Donald Trump to facilitate policy coordination.
The North is also forecast to celebrate upcoming national holidays such as the 105th and 75th anniversary of the birthdays of the young leader’s grandfather and father, Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, with a major military experiment.
Pyongyang unveiled the weapon during a military parade in October 2015 marking the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the ruling Workers’ Party, touting it as a “strategic rocket equipped with varied, miniaturized nuclear warheads.” But the missile, capable of reaching the US mainland with an estimated range of up to 13,000 kilometers, has yet to be tested.
“We’re closely tracking and monitoring the possibility of a launch of the KN-08 and its improvement, the KN-14,” Seoul’s Defense Ministry spokesperson Moon Sang-gyun said at a news briefing.
“We assess that the KN-08 and KN-14 can be fired from a mobile launcher.”
Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee also slammed Pyongyang’s ongoing threats, warning of additional sanctions and pressure.
“I think (the threats) were intended to pressure the US. Its intention seems to drive a change in the US’ attitude by continuing provocations and sticking to the position that it will keep doing so, while shifting the blame in the event of a future ICBM launch,” he told reporters.
By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)
“Their nuclear weapons and ballistic missile defense programs are a serious threat to us,” he said in an interview with NBC News.
“We try to stay ahead of that and we are staying ahead of that with our missile defenses to make sure we’ve upgraded their number, their type, so that we’re sure we can defend ourselves.”
Justin Higgins, a spokesperson at the State Department’s East Asian and Pacific affairs bureau, also said the US was capable of countering a North Korean missile attack, pledging to further intensify sanctions and pressure to “raise the cost” for the regime’s provocations.
Following Kim’s speech, speculation has been rising that the regime is gearing up to test-fire the KN-08 ICBM in the first half of this year to coincide with presidential transitions in Seoul and Washington.
The reports came as Kim Kwan-jin, chief of Seoul’s presidential National Security Council, visits Washington to meet with aides of President-elect Donald Trump to facilitate policy coordination.
The North is also forecast to celebrate upcoming national holidays such as the 105th and 75th anniversary of the birthdays of the young leader’s grandfather and father, Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il, with a major military experiment.
Pyongyang unveiled the weapon during a military parade in October 2015 marking the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the ruling Workers’ Party, touting it as a “strategic rocket equipped with varied, miniaturized nuclear warheads.” But the missile, capable of reaching the US mainland with an estimated range of up to 13,000 kilometers, has yet to be tested.
“We’re closely tracking and monitoring the possibility of a launch of the KN-08 and its improvement, the KN-14,” Seoul’s Defense Ministry spokesperson Moon Sang-gyun said at a news briefing.
“We assess that the KN-08 and KN-14 can be fired from a mobile launcher.”
Unification Ministry spokesman Jeong Joon-hee also slammed Pyongyang’s ongoing threats, warning of additional sanctions and pressure.
“I think (the threats) were intended to pressure the US. Its intention seems to drive a change in the US’ attitude by continuing provocations and sticking to the position that it will keep doing so, while shifting the blame in the event of a future ICBM launch,” he told reporters.
By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)
