News analysis |
South Korea has carried-out a bombing drill on the Northern border with North Korea after that country fired a missile over Northern Japan on Tuesday. The bombing was ordered by South Korean president Moon Jae-in and used four F15K fighter jets to drop a flurry of MK84 multi-purpose bombs in a bid to demonstrate ‘overwhelming force’.
China said that the act on part of Kim has made the situation reach a tipping point. Earlier China had ruled-out supporting DPRK in case it launches the first strike
Japanese woke up to the news and were asked to take shelter; this is the most daring move by the feisty North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un amid simmering nuclear brinkmanship with the US.
The drills were carried out after the chairmen of both South Korea and the US Joint Chiefs of Staff agreed “to take response measures at the earliest possible time that can demonstrate the alliance’s strong will including military measures”. The drills have been confirmed by Seoul’s chief press secretary.
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Yoon Young Chan added: “We assessed North Korea’s provocations as extremely severe and decided to maintain a vigilant posture in preparation for the possibility of additional provocations by North Korea.”
Adding to the showmanship, a spokesperson for the nation’s Agency for Defence Development said: “Our military has the missile capability with top-level precision and power to strike any place in North Korea if necessary.”
The Peninsula is fastly treading towards war. There are nuclear undertones attached to it; faced with a use or lose dilemma, North Korea may find it tenable to ratchet up the conflict
Video footages of missiles were released in an attempt to deter Kim. The video shows the 500km range ballistic missile with improved warhead power landing on a target with pinpoint accuracy. Another, an 800km range missile can be seen plowing into the ocean after being fired from a floating dock. It remains to be seen if Kim will be deterred or continue to be brazen.
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On the brink
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has decried North Korea’s missile launch as an “unprecedented and grave threat” to his country. He said that measures will be taken to protect the country. “The outrageous act of firing a missile over our country is an unprecedented, serious and grave threat and greatly damages regional peace and security,” he said, shortly after holding a phone call with US President Donald Trump.
The major provocation comes days after tensions renewed when Trump said that he would respond with fire and fury to Kim’s aggression
Trump while reaffirming his 100 percent support to Japan agreed on the need to call a meeting of the UN Security Council. This major provocation comes days after tensions renewed when Trump said that he would respond with fire and fury to Kim’s aggression.
DPRK threatened to strike the US territory of Guam; Trump said his military is locked and loaded. However, prior to today, there was an impression that a thaw was possible. Kim withheld the attack and Tillerson hinted at talks with Pyongyang.
“It’s another provocation by North Korea, they just seem to continue to happen,” US envoy Robert Wood told reporters in Geneva.
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Japanese woke to the news and were asked to take shelter; this is the most daring move by the feisty North Korean leader, Kim Jong Un amid simmering nuclear brinkmanship with the US
“This is a big concern of course to my government and to a number of other governments,” he added, speaking before a session of the UN-sponsored Conference on Disarmament where North Korean Ambassador Han Tae Song was slated to speak.
China said that the act on part of Kim has made the situation reach a tipping point. Earlier China had ruled-out supporting DPRK in case it launches the first strike.
DPRK seems undeterred and unfazed; deterrence by nonviolent means have more or less failed. The Peninsula is fastly treading towards war. There are nuclear undertones attached to it; faced with a use or lose dilemma, North Korea may find it tenable to ratchet up the conflict. Moreover, the likelihood of it making the first move will increase should a US strike becomes imminent.