North Korea’s nuclear brinkmanship has the world on edge.
A military conflict that could kill millions may break out at any moment.
And Defense Secretary “Mad Dog” Mattis had four chilling words when asked about Kim Jong-Un’s latest saber rattling.
There are reports that North Korea is planning another intercontinental ballistic missile test.
This launch comes on the heels of the communist nation conducting their sixth – and largest in scale – nuclear test to date.
The BBC reports:
Chang Kyung-soo, a South Korean defense ministry official, told parliament: “We have continued to see signs of possibly more ballistic missile launches. We also forecast North Korea could fire an intercontinental ballistic missile [ICBM].”
The ICBM could be fired into the North Pacific, officials said.
No timeframe was given but this Saturday, the anniversary of the foundation of the North’s regime, or 10 October, the establishment of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea, are possible dates.
The United States responded by sending four THAAD missile defense systems to South Korea.
The BBC also reports:
Four more launches of the US THAAD (Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense) missile defense system – strongly opposed by China and Russia – would also be deployed to join two already at a site in Seongju, south of Seoul.
South Korea and the US have also agreed “in principle” to revise current guidelines so that the South can double the maximum payload of its ballistic missiles, the Yonhap news agency reports.
US President Donald Trump has said the US is considering stopping all trade with any country doing business with North Korea, which relies on China for about 90% of its foreign trade.
But the strongest response may have been the most understated.
Secretary of Defense James “Mad Dog” Mattis was asked about how America would respond to another missile launch.
His cool response consisted of only four words – “We’ll deal with it.”
"We'll deal with it," said DefSec Mattis at the Pentagon today, asked if North Korea fires another missile, would US seek to shoot it down.
— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) September 7, 2017
Earlier that day, Trump was asked if military options were still on the table and he responded that it was not the first option, but if North Korea forced his hand with continued threats, it would “be a very sad day.”
Reuters reports:
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he would prefer not to use military action against North Korea to counter its nuclear and missile threat but that if he did, it would be a “very sad day” for the leadership in Pyongyang.
Trump again pointedly declined to rule out a U.S. military response following North Korea’s sixth and most powerful nuclear test as his administration seeks increased economic sanctions, saying Pyongyang was “behaving badly and it’s got to stop.”
“Military action would certainly be an option. Is it inevitable? Nothing is inevitable,” Trump said during a news conference.
“I would prefer not going the route of the military,” Trump said. “If we do use it on North Korea, it will be a very sad day for North Korea.”
Will it come to war?
Give us your thoughts in the comment section.
