Trump threatens North Korea with ‘fire and fury’ amid nuclear weapon reports

North Korea on Monday rejected the United Nations sanctions over its long-range missile tests and vowed to make Washington pay a price “dearly” with its retaliation. But, “fire and fury” doesn’t exactly evoke a policy of waiting-and-seeing to see if the tightened sanctions work.

“The nation’s state-run news agency responded that “(North Korea) will make the US pay dearly for all the heinous crimes it commits against the state and people of this country”.

President Trump managed to take a moment in between rounds of golf in New Jersey to threaten a potential World War III by launching a military attack on North Korea.

Trump’s threats Tuesday mark a new phase in his presidency. The U.S. territory is home to Andersen Air Force Base.

Most lawmakers were silent on Mr. Trump’s comments about North Korea, as Congress is on a summer break until Labor Day.

The U.N. Security Council unanimously imposed new sanctions on North Korea on Saturday over its continued missile tests.

Tensions have risen since North Korea carried out two nuclear bomb tests previous year and two ICBM tests last month.

“This official said the ‘assessment” is continuing to be refined and updated as more intelligence is collected.

The sanctions target about a third of North Korea’s estimated $3 billion in annual exports. It appears that some people in these circles have been leaking intelligence assessments to the Washington Post and press, in part fanning the Trump-North Korea confrontation.

It is an ambition decades in the making.

As of August 8, North Korea has conducted 14 missile tests this year.

-April 2012: North Korea holds a massive rally denouncing conservative South Korean President Lee Myung-bak as a “rat”. Will an unprecedented “fire and fury” rain on North Korea?

The secrecy of the North’s nuclear program and the underground nature of its test explosions make it very hard to properly assess its claims.

“Missiles constitute the pillars of the two regimes’ strategic arsenals and they have not hesitated to invest in illicit capabilities”. The North claimed that the whole US mainland is within its striking range. The story was attributed to anonymous US officials.

The DIA and Pentagon did not immediately respond to USA TODAY’s requests for comment on the Post report.

North Korea has repeatedly refused to conduct any negotiations aimed at halting its nuclear progress.

Tension mounts between North Korea, U.S. The U.S. could weigh military action if the threat perception changes.

It also means it is potentially capable of packing the weapon of mass destruction inside an intercontinental ballistic missile. Experts believe if the most recent test had been fired on a flatter, standard trajectory, it could have threatened cities like Los Angeles, Denver and Chicago.

“The situation on the Korean peninsula is already volatile enough”, said Sen.

Not all technical hurdles have been overcome with the missiles, however. Lee Zeldin told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, noting that questions still linger about whether a possible North Korean warhead could survive re-entry from the earth’s upper atmosphere.