Guam, Japan prepare for possible North Korea missile launch

The Greens want Australia to postpone its involvement in military exercises in Korea amid escalating tensions on the peninsula.

In a statement last week, Gen. Kim Rak Gyom, commander of the Strategic Force of the Korean People’s Army, said the plan to fire “four Hwasong-12 intermediate-range strategic ballistic rockets.to signal a crucial warning to the US” would be ready by “mid-August”.

“Military action on the Korean peninsula can only be decided by South Korea and no one else can decide to take military action without the consent of South Korea”, said Moon in televised comments.

“I am certain the United States will respond to the current situation calmly and responsibly in a stance that is equal to ours”, he said.

Only then could Seoul consider sending an envoy to the North, he added. Any divisions among America and its allies may further embolden Kim, who is seeking the ability to strike the USA with a nuclear weapon as a way to deter an invasion that could overthrow his regime.

One problem for Moon is that North Korea has little interest in talking to South Korea, in part because Kim sees the USA and its nuclear capability as a much bigger threat to his regime.

China has urged North Korea not to carry out missile or nuclear tests that are banned by the Council.

But the USA and South Korea are set to begin their annual 10-day Ulchi Freedom Guardian joint exercises on Monday, involving tens of thousands of troops.

Abe said he and Trump “agreed in our recognition that preventing North Korea from launching its missiles is the most important thing”.

Mr Moon wants to engage with the North, but his efforts have so far been met with a string of threats and missile tests as Pyongyang works to build nuclear-armed missiles that can reach the U.S. mainland.

North Korean military figures are putting the final touches on a plan to fire four missiles into the waters around the U.S. territory of Guam, to be presented to leader Kim Jong Un by “mid-August”.

“I don’t think we must rush into it”, he said.

-South Korea exercises and warned of a “second Korean War” should Seoul and Washington go ahead with the annually held Ulchi-Freedom Guardian.

Any new military conflict with North Korea would likely escalate quickly to the use of nuclear weapons, bringing catastrophic casualties and an untold economic impact worldwide, former US defence officials and experts believe.

The main South Korean opposition Liberty Korea Party, the reincarnation of the conservative party that had been led by disgraced former president Park Geun-hye, this week added bringing American nuclear weapons back to its party platform.

Over the weekend, Japan redeployed batteries of its land-based Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile interceptors to some of the prefectures over which the North Korean missiles would potentially fly: Shimane, Hiroshima and Koch. “These exercises are necessary to maintain readiness in the face of provocative acts threatening the [Republic of Korea] and the U.S. Our job is provide our leadership with viable military options if called upon, and exercises like this hone our ability to do that”. Pyongyang tested two intercontinental ballistic missiles last month.

Moon in a speech Tuesday also said resolving the North Korean threat could begin with freezing its nuclear weapons program. China strenuously rejects linking the two issues.

He said the military was developing “credible, viable military options” upon orders from Trump.

“We believe that if China enforces those sanctions-if the global community enforces those sanctions-that can set the conditions to move forward toward denuclearization”, he said. “On these two issues, China and the United States should respect each other and increase cooperation”. The pressure his administration has put on China appears to have paid off, as the sanctions placed on North Korea are quite severe and reading between the lines it is ultimately China who dictate the fate of NK. The move followed the announcement of United Nations sanctions against North Korea this month which have to be enforced within 30 days by member states.