Kim Jong-un fuels ‘Mini Cuban Missile Crisis’

Seoul/Guam/Washington: North Korea said on Thursday it is completing plans to fire four intermediate-range missiles (IRBMs) over Japan to land near the US Pacific island territory of Guam dubbing US President Donald Trump’s remarks that any threats by Pyongyang would be “met with fire and fury like the world has never seen” as “a load of nonsense”.

North Korea’s Army will complete the plans in mid-August, when they will be ready for leader Kim Jong-un’s order, state-run KCNA news agency reported citing General Kim Rak-gyom, commander of the Strategic Force of the Korean People’s Army. Four IRBMs would be launched simultaneously and fly over the Japanese prefectures of Shimane, Hiroshima and Kochi.  They would have a flight time of 17 minutes 45 seconds, travel 3,356.7 km and come down 30-40 km away from Guam. 

The declaration came after Mr Trump boasted on Twitter that the U.S. nuclear arsenal is “far stronger and more powerful than ever before”. “Sound dialogue is not possible with such a guy (Mr Trump) bereft of reason”, General Kim added.

Professor Yang Moo-Jin of Seoul’s University of North Korean Studies said, “The North appears to be saying what it is going to do is within international laws. Therefore, it cannot be ruled out that the North may translate this plan into reality.”

“This is a coercive threat to halt B-1 (Lancer bomber) flights,” Adam Mount, senior fellow of the Centre for American Progress said on Twitter. “Unlike Trump’s vague, incendiary threat, DPRK’s is coercive, clear, specific, and has credible escalation potential. Response is difficult.”

The war of words over Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programmes is raising fears of a miscalculation that could lead to catastrophic consequences on the Korean peninsula and beyond. The region is facing “a mini Cuban Missile Crisis”, John Delury, professor at Seoul’s Yonsei University, said.