Olivier Knox Chief Washington Correspondent - yahoo news
In
his latest broadside at North Korea, President Trump bluntly warned
dictator Kim Jong Un on Friday that the U.S. military was “locked and
loaded” in case the country should “act unwisely.”
“Military
solutions are now fully in place, locked and loaded, should North Korea
act unwisely. Hopefully Kim Jong Un will find another path!” Trump said
on Twitter.
It
was not clear exactly what sort of “military solutions” Trump was
referring to or what precisely would constitute unwise action by the
North Korean leader.
But
North Korea said on Thursday it was putting together a plan to fire
four missiles in the direction of the U.S. territory of Guam, a Pacific
island that is home to large American military installations.
Trump’s
warning came a day after Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters in
Silicon Valley that the U.S. effort to “get this under control” was
“diplomatically led,” “gaining traction,” and “gaining diplomatic
results.”
Mattis
underlined that he wanted to “stay right there right now” and warned
that the cost of conflict could be “catastrophic,” but also said that
when it comes to the U.S. military, “we are ready.”
Trump
has delivered several blistering warnings to Pyongyang as he and his
top advisers work to resolve the most serious international
confrontation of his barely 200-day-old administration. One of them, a
threat on Tuesday to rain “fire and fury” on the isolated Stalinist country, surprised senior advisers.
Tensions
have steadily escalated since July, when North Korea fired two
intercontinental ballistic missiles — tests that showed its rockets
could reach U.S. soil, according to U.S. intelligence officials. The
United States responded by rallying an unusual 15-0 United Nations
Security Council vote in favor of a package of tough new economic
sanctions on the regime. This week, news outlets have reported that
American intelligence confirmed a finding by Japan’s defense ministry
that North Korea has likely developed warheads small enough to fit on
its missiles.
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