A real crisis on the horizon as Washington and Pyongyang exchange threats

Once seemed to be just political maneuvering or a show of force at home, US President Donald Trump’s tough positions against North Korea have begun to haunt the US itself. The exchange of threats between Washington and Pyongyang has made the entire world worried about a possible nuclear war.

کد خبر: ۷۲۰۲۲۷

تاریخ: ۱۹ مرداد ۱۳۹۶ - ۱۴:۵۴

Tabnak – Once seemed to be just political maneuvering or a show of force at home, US President Donald Trump’s tough positions against North Korea have begun to haunt the US itself. The exchange of threats between Washington and Pyongyang has made the entire world worried about a possible nuclear war.

In response to Trump’s recent remarks on North Korea in which he warned Pyongyang that it would face "fire and fury" if it threatened the United States, North Korea outlined on Thursday detailed plans for a missile strike near the Pacific territory of Guam.

Trump's unexpected remarks prompted North Korea to say on Thursday it was finalizing plans to fire four intermediate-range missiles over Japan to land 30-40 km (18-25 miles) from Guam, adding detail to a plan first announced on Wednesday.

"Sound dialogue is not possible with such a guy bereft of reason and only absolute force can work on him," a report by the North's state-run KCNA news agency said of Trump.

The army will complete its plans in mid-August, ready for North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's order, KCNA reported, citing General Kim Rak Gyom, commander of the Strategic Force of the Korean People's Army.

In an analysis of the developments, The Irish Times argues that Trump’s possible intervention in the Korean Peninsula will concern US allies and alarm the millions of civilians who would find themselves in the front line of a catastrophic war on the peninsula. Worst of all, it is strategically self-defeating.

In fact, according to The New York Times, North Korea has successfully produced a miniaturized nuclear warhead that can fit inside its missiles, crossing a key threshold on the path to becoming a full-fledged nuclear power. The Times cites US intelligence officials’ confidential assessment.

The findings are likely to deepen concerns about an evolving North Korean military threat that appears to be advancing far more rapidly than many experts had predicted. US officials concluded last month that Pyongyang is also outpacing expectations in its effort to build an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of striking the American mainland.

The paper notes in a separate report that senior American officials sent mixed signals on North Korea on Wednesday as President Trump’s "fire and fury” warning rattled allies and adversaries alike, a sign of his administration’s deep divisions on the issue.

Trump’s advisers calibrated his dire warning with statements that, if not directly contradictory, emphasized different points. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson stressed diplomacy and reassured Americans that they could "sleep well at night,” while Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said North Korea risked "the end of its regime and the destruction of its people” if it did not "stand down.”

However, it seems that the North Korean issue is going really out of hand of the American officials and the risk of a confrontation between the two sides is now more real than ever. Whether the "wise men” could prevent a global crisis by convincing the two sides to pursue a diplomatic path is still a matter of wait and see.