{"id":13775,"date":"2016-10-20T07:41:49","date_gmt":"2016-10-20T07:41:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=13775"},"modified":"2016-10-20T07:41:49","modified_gmt":"2016-10-20T07:41:49","slug":"north-korea-attempts-missile-launch-as-us-strengthens-regional-alliances","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/world-news\/north-korea-attempts-missile-launch-as-us-strengthens-regional-alliances.html","title":{"rendered":"North Korea Attempts Missile Launch as US Strengthens Regional Alliances"},"content":{"rendered":"

North Korea Attempts Missile Launch as US Strengthens Regional Alliances<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

North Korea Attempts Missile Launch as US Strengthens Regional Alliances:-<\/strong> North Korea conducted a failed test of an intermediate-range ballistic missile on Thursday morning, shortly after the U.S and South Korea wrapped up high-level security talks in Washington.<\/span><\/p>\n

The U.S. Strategic Command and South Korea’s Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said this attempted launch seemed to replicate Saturday\u2019s failed test in that it involved the same type of missile, a Mudsudan with a range of 3,000 kilometers, from the same location, the western city of <\/span>Kusong.<\/span><\/p>\n

That missile test also ended in failure, but analysts say that each test is helping North Korea advance its capabilities and reach its goal of developing a credible nuclear ballistic missile arsenal that could potentially strike the U.S. mainland.<\/span><\/p>\n

South Korea and Japan immediately condemned Thursday\u2019s missile test.<\/span><\/p>\n

Earlier this week the United Nations Security Council issued a strong condemnation of Saturday\u2019s launch attempt by the North, saying it was “a clear violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions” and an “illegal act of provocation.”<\/span><\/p>\n

The Kim Jong Un government has responded defiantly to tough U.N. sanctions imposed on North Korea in March by conducting numerous missile launches and a second nuclear test in one year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Extended deterrence<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The North\u2019s latest provocation followed an announcement by the United States and South Korea on Wednesday to further strengthen their security alliance with the start of talks on an \u201cextended deterrence\u201d against a nuclear North Korea.<\/span><\/p>\n

The U.S., at its bases in South Korea, is considering the permanent deployment of B-1B and <\/span>nuclear capable B-52 bombers, F-22 stealth fighter jets and nuclear powered submarines, according to defense and diplomatic sources.<\/span><\/p>\n

Wednesday\u2019s establishment of a high-level Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group is being accompanied by unusually blunt public comments from the U.S. secretaries of defense and state about the possibility of nuclear war initiated by Pyongyang on the Korean peninsula.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAny use of nuclear weapons will be met with an overwhelming and effective response,\u201d said U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter at the start of 2+2 security talks with the South Korean defense and foreign ministers.<\/span><\/p>\n

South Korea\u2019s security is guaranteed by the \u201cfull spectrum of U.S. defense capabilities,\u201d Carter said in a reference to the American nuclear defense shield protecting the U.S. ally.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018Dagger against our throats\u2019<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Carter made his comments seated alongside U.S. Secretary of Defense John Kerry and two South Korean government officials \u2013 Minister of National Defense Han Min-<\/span>koo and Minister of Foreign Affairs Yun Byung-<\/span>se.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hours later, Secretary of State John Kerry, at a news conference standing alongside Yun, repeated the same stark rhetoric and predicted \u201cNorth Korea will never attain its goals through threats and intimidation.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Yun, at the start of the talks, said Pyongyang is nearing the “final stage of nuclear weaponization” compelling the United States and South Korea to utilize “all tools in the tool kit” to defend themselves and make the North Koreans \u201cfeel the panic under their skins.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Han then said North Korea\u2019s nuclear weapons and missiles are akin to “a dagger against our throats.”<\/span><\/p>\n

THAAD deployment<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

While continuing to work for denuclearization, \u201cwe need to ensure working together that the DPRK pays a price for its dangerous actions,\u201d said Kerry.<\/span><\/p>\n

Amid what he termed a \u201cpivotal moment\u201d on the Korean peninsula, Kerry added that the United States will deploy to South Korea \u201cas soon as possible\u201d a Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery.<\/span><\/p>\n

China and some in South Korea oppose the deployment of the anti-ballistic missile system, contending it unnecessarily exacerbates tensions in the region.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kerry maintained that the military option to stop North Korea\u2019s ongoing nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs is \u201ca last resort.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Analysts\u2019 reactions<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Wednesday\u2019s tougher language from top U.S. officials caught some by surprise, but it will be welcomed by hawks who argue that diplomacy and economic sanctions have failed to deter Pyongyang.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think this stronger rhetoric is going to deter them from taking the next step, whatever their next is,\u201d said CSIS-Pacific Forum adjunct fellow Tara O, the author of \u201cThe Collapse of North Korea: Challenges, Planning and Geopolitics of Unification.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Other analysts question the potential basing of U.S. Air Force bombers to American bases in South Korea.<\/span><\/p>\n

“I don’t see why you need B-52s and B-1s on the peninsula. That puts them within DPRK short-range missiles, and therefore more vulnerable than if they remain at Andersen (Air Force Base on Guam).<\/span><\/p>\n

“They can fly to Korea in a few hours,” said Troy University international relations professor Daniel Pinkston, author of “The North Korean Ballistic Missile Program.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Basing such aircraft and THAAD on the Korean peninsula, he said, would cause China “to be in an uproar” and officials in Pyongyang and Beijing to assert that such forward deployed assets are really intended to deter the Chinese.<\/span><\/p>\n

Carter\u2019s stark reference Wednesday to nuclear retaliation will raise questions about \u201care we seriously going to use\u201d the nuclear option, said the retired U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel who did three tours of duty on the Korean peninsula and also specialized in regional security matters at the Pentagon.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone has to make a decision on what will be an acceptable cost if we are to carry out anything beyond rhetoric,\u201d Pinkston told VOA.<\/span><\/p>\n

The two Koreas have no diplomatic ties and have technically remained at war since a devastating three-year conflict in the early 1950s ended in stalemate. The Korean War drew in Chinese forces supporting the North, while a U.S.-led United Nations coalition countered the North’s invasion of the South.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0http:\/\/www.voanews.com\/a\/north-korea-attempts-missile-launch-as-us-strengthens-regional-alliances\/3559001.html<\/span><\/p>\n

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