Trump, Pyongyang trade escalating threats of action

DPRK warns of preemptive strikes; US leader threatens 'fire and fury'

PYONGYANG - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea has warned of making preemptive strikes against the US military base of Guam in the Pacific, after two US strategic bombers were sent again on Tuesday to the Korean Peninsula to stage mock nuclear bomb droppings on DPRK strategic targets, the official Korean Central News Agency said on Wednesday.

This came on the same day when US President Donald Trump threatened the DPRK with "fire and fury like the world has never seen" if, he said, the DPRK does not stop making threats with nuclear and missile weapons.

China urged calm on Wednesday, saying these rhetorics could escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

In a statement, the Foreign Ministry calls on all parties to avoid any words or actions that might escalate tensions and make greater efforts to resolve the issue via talks.

On Tuesday, the KCNA quoted a spokesman of the Strategic Force of the Korean People's Army as saying that DPRK top leader Kim Jongun has "recommended examination of a powerful and effective action plan for containing the US imperialists' aggression hardware, as the US forces are resorting to inappropriate and reckless military actions in the sensitive area".

"The KPA Strategic Force is now carefully examining the operational plan for making an enveloping fire at the areas around Guam with medium-to-long-range strategic ballistic rocket Hwasong-12 in order to contain the US major military bases on Guam, including the Anderson Air Force Base," the spokesman said.

He said the US B-1B strategic bombers, which are based in Guam, are "getting on the nerves of the DPRK, threatening and blackmailing it through their frequent visits to the sky above the peninsula." In another stern statement, another spokesman for the General Staff of the KPA said on Tuesday that "the US war-thirsty forces are engrossed in war hysteria without discretion" and this would only bring a "miserable end to the American Empire".

"In the US, Trump is talking rhetoric without hesitation that 'he will not rule out a war against the north rather than taking a folded-arm approach toward its development of long-range nuclear missile advancing with a rap-id speed,'" the KCNA quoted the spokesman as saying.

He said the US is preparing for an all-out war against the DPRK as it is mobilizing its army, navy, marines, air force and psychological forces around the peninsula.

"Under the prevailing grave situation, the General Staff of the KPA clarifies at home and abroad its resolute stand as follows to mercilessly smash all sorts of military provocation, being planned by the US imperialist warmongers," he said.

The KPA will start retaliatory operation "once a slight sign of the US provocation scheming to dare carry out a beheading operation against the supreme headquarters of the Korean revolution out of wild calculation is detected", said the spokesman.

The move also took place days after the United Nations Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution to reinforce economic sanctions against the DPRK for its nuclear and missile program.

The DPRK has condemned the resolution and vowed to further strengthen its nuclear capabilities.

Xinhua - China Daily

(China Daily 08/10/2017 page12)