Kim Jong-Un urged North Korea to mass-produce nuclear warheads and missiles in a defiant New Year message Monday suggesting he would continue to accelerate a rogue weapons program that has sent international tensions soaring. Pyongyang dramatically ramped up its efforts to become a nuclear power in 2017, despite a raft of international sanctions and increasing bellicose rhetoric from the United States. “We must mass-produce nuclear warheads and ballistic missile and speed up their deployment,” said Kim in his annual address to the nation, reiterating his claims that North Korea had achieved its goal of becoming a nuclear state. Kim presided over multiple missile tests in 2017 and carried out its sixth and most powerful nuclear test — which it said was a hydrogen bomb — in September. The North says its weapons program is designed to be able to target the U.S. mainland. U.S. President Donald Trump has responded to each test with his own amplified declarations, threatening to “totally destroy” Pyongyang and taunting Kim, saying the North Korean leader was on “a suicide mission”. But far from persuading Kim to give up his nuclear drive, analysts say Trump’s tough talk may have prompted the North Korean leader to accelerate his dangerous quest. “(The North) can cope with any kind of nuclear threats from the U.S. and has a strong nuclear deterrence that is able to prevent the U.S. from playing with fire,” Kim said Monday. “The nuclear button is always on my table. This is not blackmail but reality.”
Kim calls on North to mass-produce nukes, missiles have 252 words, post on e.vnexpress.net at 2018-01-01 02:48:13. This is cached page on VietNam Breaking News. If you want remove this page, please contact us.
The top U.S. intelligence official said on Sunday he would not be surprised if North Korea tested another missile, given that it had two tests in July, amid rising tensions between the two nations. U.S. President Donald Trump has offered fiery warnings for North Korea, saying that the U.S. military was "locked and loaded." North Korean officials in turn have accused the U.S. leader of driving the Korean peninsula to the brink of nuclear war. “I am quite confident that he (North Korean leader Kim Jong Un) will continue to try to develop his missile program, so it wouldn’t surprise…... [read more]
Nuclear-armed North Korea on Wednesday fired a ballistic missile into the Sea of Japan, South Korea and the U.S. military said, days after Pyongyang warned of retaliation if the global community ramps up sanctions. South Korea's defense ministry said the missile had flown some 60 kilometers (about 40 miles). "The military is keeping a close watch over North Korea's provocative moves and maintaining a high defense posture", it said. The U.S. military said it was a KN-15 medium-range ballistic missile which they had determined posed no threat to America. "U.S. Pacific Command is fully committed to working closely with our…... [read more]
North Korea fired a ballistic missile early on Sunday that flew 700 kilometers (430 miles), South Korea's military said, days after a new leader took office in the South pledging to engage in dialogue with Pyongyang. The missile was fired from the region of Kusong, northwest of Pyongyang, where the North in February successfully test-launched an intermediate-range missile that it is believed to be developing. Japan said the latest missile reached an altitude of more than 2,000 km (1,245 miles) and flew for 30 minutes before dropping into the sea between North Korea's east coast and Japan. The North has…... [read more]
Nuclear-armed North Korea has a ballistic missile that could hit the United States, the leading lawmaker on the US House of Representatives intelligence committee warned Sunday. Mike Roger speaks on October 8, 2012 in the House Visitors Center of the US Capitol in Washington, DC Congressman Mike Rogers also raised concern that North Korea's young leader Kim Jong-Un is trying to prove himself to his military and that Washington could not be sure of his "stability.""They certainly have a ballistic missile that can reach US shores," Rogers told the CNN news network, without specifying whether he was referring to…... [read more]
MOSCOW: The Russian foreign ministry on Monday (Mar 7) condemned as "totally unacceptable" North Korea's threats to launch pre-emptive nuclear strikes against South Korea and the United States, and appealed to all sides to show restraint.North Korea's threat of "indiscriminate" strikes came just hours before South Korea and the US began annual, large-scale military drills, which usually provoke a hardline response from Pyongyang."We consider the public statements (by North Korea) threatening its adversaries with 'pre-emptive nuclear strikes' to be completely unacceptable," the ministry said in a statement."Pyongyang must realise that in doing so, North Korea is definitively turning its back…... [read more]
An airplane crew flying over Japan saw North Korea's missile as it plunged back through the atmosphere last week, their airline said Monday, as South Korea and the US kicked off their largest ever joint air exercise. Pyongyang has called the joint air exercise by the US and South Korea an 'all-out provocation' Hong Kong carrier Cathay Pacific released a statement saying the crew of flight CX893 spotted "what is suspected to be the re-entry" of the missile as they flew from San Francisco to the southern Chinese city.In a separate message to staff, Cathay general manager Mark Hoey said…... [read more]
U.S. Vice President Mike Pence arrived by helicopter on Monday at a U.S. military base in South Korea next to the highly fortified DMZ border with North Korea, a day after the North launched a missile that blew up almost immediately. The failed launch occurred as Pence was en route to Seoul, the first stop on a four-nation Asia tour. Japan urges North Korea to refrain Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday urged North Korea to refrain from taking further provocative actions, comply with U.N. resolutions and abandon its nuclear missile development. Tensions on the Korean peninsula have escalated as…... [read more]
SEOUL — North Korea test fired an intercontinental ballistic missile on Wednesday, in a major challenge to US President Donald Trump after he slapped fresh sanctions on Pyongyang and declared it a state sponsor of terrorism. It was the nuclear-armed North’s first ballistic test in more than two months and an initial Pentagon assessment said the ICBM flew about 1,000 kilometers before splashing down within Japan’s maritime Economic Exclusion Zone. At least one expert said its lofted trajectory suggested an actual range of 13,000 kilometres that would bring every city in the continental United States within range. Trump, who has…... [read more]
It followed the first 20-minute phone call on Wednesday after North Korea launched long-range ballistic missile Hwansong-15, which was said to be able to reach the US mainland. In related news, US Secretary of Defense James Mattis pledged to stick to diplomatic solutions after North Korea’s latest inter-continental ballistic missile test. South Korea's Air Force said on Friday it has created a bigger airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance unit in response to growing nuclear and missile threats from North Korea. The new unit is tasked with monitoring the North's related activities around the clock in close coordination with the US.…... [read more]
Nuclear-armed North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan and into the Pacific Ocean on Tuesday in a major escalation by Pyongyang amid tensions over its weapons ambitions.Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said it was an "unprecedented, serious and grave threat" and called for an emergency UN Security Council meeting.The last time a North Korean rocket overflew Japan was in 2009, when Pyongyang said it was satellite launch. Washington, Seoul and Tokyo believed it was a clandestine test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).Pyongyang last month carried out two overt ICBM tests that appeared to bring much of the US…... [read more]
