North Korea 'examining' missile launch toward Guam
Michael JamesNorth Korea claimed Thursday that it is writing an attack plan to fire missiles toward Guam "to signal a crucial warning to the U.S.," although the rogue nation said the plan won't be ready until mid-August.
The latest threat comes amid rising tensions on the Korean peninsula and blustery rhetoric from President Trump, who has promised "fire and fury" on North Korea if it doesn't abandon its nuclear program.
The North Korean military is "seriously examining the plan for an enveloping strike at Guam through simultaneous fire of four Hwasong-12 intermediate-range strategic ballistic rockets," North Korea's media reported.
It said the missiles will fly over Japan and land near Guam, a U.S. territory in the Pacific Ocean about 2,100 miles southeast of North Korea. The U.S. maintains large naval and air bases on the island.
The show of force would not happen immediately, according to Yonhap News Agency in South Korea. The North Korean military is in the midst of drafting a detailed plan that it will submit to leader Kim Jong Un by mid-August, Yonhap reported.
North Korean media said the purpose of the missile launch will be "to interdict the enemy forces on major military bases on Guam and to signal a crucial warning to the U.S."
Military leaders in North Korea took the opportunity of the world spotlight to make a few digs at Trump. In a statement, North Korean general Kim Rak Gyom, commander of the nation's army, called Trump's "fire and fury" speech "a load of nonsense."
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Gyom also called Trump "a guy bereft of reason . . . Only absolute force can work on him."
Among the U.S. military installations on Guam is the sprawling Andersen Air Force Base, as well as Naval Base Guam. The island's positioning in the Pacific is considered a key strategic point for U.S. military planning and presence. At least 6,000 U.S. troops are stationed there.
The island is the USA's most western territory. It is part of the Mariana Islands group, home to U.S. military installations, and it has been the launching point for historic attacks on Asia.
One of Guam's neighbor islands in the Marianas, Tinian Island, was the launching point for the atomic bomb attacks against Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan at the end of World War II.
Tiny island of Guam is key U.S. military outpost now in North Korea's cross hairs