The saber-rattling from North Korea continues this week with more escalation of nuclear intent.
Kim Jong Un warned that his military will test-fire four ICBMs in a week or so directly at Guam, which houses a substantial U.S military presence.
The possibility of such a test presents multiple scenarios, none of them good.
If they follow through, the Pentagon must decide whether to respond with anti-missile defenses on the possibility that it is a live nuclear attack.
What’s more, a lack of response could be seen as weakness and willingness to tolerate N. Korean aggression.
Worse, such a test would require missiles to fly over Japanese airspace which means a multi-nation response.
Short of Trump and Kim deciding to kiss and make up, there’s little chance this ends well.
Here’s more from Redstate…
A couple of days ago, Kim Jong Un threatened the US territory of Guam with a nuclear attack. He was either happy or unhappy with the response because now his regime has doubled down. They have promised that they will launch four missiles at targets in the ocean around Guam as a show of force:
North Korea has announced a detailed plan to launch a salvo of ballistic missiles toward the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam, a major military hub and home to U.S. bombers. If carried out, it would be the North’s most provocative missile launch to date.
The announcement Thursday warned that the North is finalizing a plan to fire four of its Hwasong-12 missiles over Japan and into waters around the tiny island, which hosts 7,000 U.S. military personnel on two main bases and has a population of 160,000.
Japan and South Korea vowed a strong reaction if the North were to go through with the plan.
It said the plan, which involves the missiles hitting waters 30 to 40 kilometers (19 to 25 miles) from the island, could be sent to leader Kim Jong Un for approval within a week or so. It would be up to Kim whether the move is actually carried out.
It is unclear whether — or exactly why — North Korea would risk firing missiles so close to U.S. territory. Such a launch would almost compel the United States to attempt an intercept and possibly generate further escalation.
If N.Korea fires 4 missiles towards Guam as it threatened today, this would be their potential trajectory & landing spots (from yonhap news) pic.twitter.com/dwAtbY3ldG
— Hawon Jung (@allyjung) August 10, 2017
