North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un said Tuesday he would hold off on a planned missile strike near Guam, but warned the highly provocative move would go ahead in the event of further “reckless actions” by Washington.
Some analysts suggested Kim’s comments opened a possible path to de-escalating a growing crisis fuelled by bellicose words between US President Donald Trump and the North Korean leadership.
Their recent exchanges were focused on a North Korean threat to fire a volley of four missiles over Japan towards the US territory of Guam, which hosts a number of strategic military bases.
The North’s official KCNA news agency said Kim was briefed on the “plan for an enveloping fire at Guam” during an inspection on Monday of the Strategic Force command in charge of the nuclear-armed state’s missile units.
But Kim said he would “watch a little more the foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees” before executing any order.
If they “persist in their extremely dangerous reckless actions on the Korean peninsula,” then North Korea would take action “as already declared,” he was quoted as saying.
“In order to defuse the tensions and prevent the dangerous military conflict on the Korean peninsula, it is necessary for the US to make a proper option first,” he added.
China said Tuesday that the North Korean nuclear crisis had reached a “turning point” and it was time to enter peace talks.
Beijing, which is Pyongyang’s main diplomatic ally, has repeatedly called on the United States and North Korea to tone down their rhetoric in recent days.
The North Korean announcement prompted joy in Guam, where officials described themselves as “almost ecstatic that Kim Jong-Un has backed off”.
Tensions have been mounting since the North tested two intercontinental ballistic missiles last month, which appeared to bring much of the US within range.
Responding to the tests, US President Donald Trump warned Pyongyang of “fire and fury like the world has never seen”, while the North responded with the Guam threat.
South Korean President Moon Jae-In weighed in on Tuesday, saying Seoul would avoid a second Korean War at all costs and “no one may decide to take military action without the consent of the Republic of Korea”.
But he added there could be no dialogue before the North halts its “nuclear and missile provocations”.
Moon’s comments came after US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson penned an opinion piece in the The Wall Street Journal insisting that America has “no interest” in regime change in Pyongyang.
“We do not seek an excuse to garrison US troops north of the Demilitarized Zone,” they wrote. “We have no desire to inflict harm on the long-suffering North Korean people, who are distinct from the hostile regime in Pyongyang.”
Mattis and Tillerson called on China, which is North Korea’s main trading partner, to take advantage of an “unparalleled opportunity” to assert its influence on Pyongyang, and bring its errant neighbour to heel.
Source-AFP
