North Korea’s New Policy: “Maximum Pressure and Engagement”

North Korea’s New Policy: “Maximum Pressure and Engagement”

In a continuing downward spiral, North Korea has issued yet another belligerent statement regarding its long-range ballistics tests.  A defiant spokesman for the North Korean foreign ministry said today that at the whim of Kim Jong-un, they would decide when and where they would perform ballistics testing, regardless of the UN Security Council’s unilateral resolutions.

Despite its recent failure to viably launch yet another test missile just days ago, North Korea issued the following statement:

North Korea’s “measures for bolstering the nuclear force to the maximum will be taken in a consecutive and successive way at any moment and any place decided by its supreme leadership”…

President Trump has had a close eye on the situation, daily briefed by his staff as to the multitude of statements and information coming out of North Korea.  American military officials believe, as does Admiral Harry Harris, Jr., Commander of the Pacific basin forces, that North Korea has made great strides forward in both intermediate-range and submarine-launched missiles.  This has many nations concerned that the irrational leader of the Korean nation may unleash a surprise launch at some time in the near future, spurring on the arrival of war.

Admiral Harris defended America’s installation of a THAAD missile defense system near Seoul, South Korea, that has brought both condemnation from the Chinese and protests from South Korean activists.

According to the Chinese military spokesperson, they are concerned that the missile systems in place in South Korea are so close in proximity to China’s borders that they could, in effect, cause interference in China’s ability to defend itself.

Some South Korean citizens who oppose American forces in their midst, have been protesting the placement of the missile defense systems near the capital.  They believe that the mere presence of the systems might provoke a pre-emptive strike by the North Koreans.

Earlier in the week, the Trump administration promised the American people that the South Korean government, that had requested added protection from the U.S. and its advanced defense systems, would pay the $1B price tag.

In a telephone call on Sunday, Trump’s national security adviser, H.R. McMaster, reassured his South Korean counterpart, Kim Kwan-jin, that the U.S. alliance with South Korea was its top priority in the Asia-Pacific region, the South’s presidential office said.

Donald Trump was asked by the press what the American response would be to the sixth nuclear ballistics test undertaken by Pyongyang earlier in the week.

Read more about President Trump’s thoughts on North Korea’s aggression.

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