North Korea claims latest missile test a 'prelude to containing Guam'

RT
Tue, 29 Aug 2017 22:24 UTC

North Korea has announced that its latest test of Hwasong-12 missile, observed by the country's leader Kim Jong-un, was a successful demonstration of Pyongyang's determination to counter any potential threat stemming from the US' joint drills with South Korea.

"This ballistic rocket launch drill... is the first step in military operations on the Pacific Ocean conducted by our troops and will be a meaningful prelude to containing Guam Island," the North's official KCNA news agency quoted Kim as saying.

Comment: If North Korea's goal is to use 'fire, fury and fear' to prevent the country from becoming another Iraq, then one can see how Pyongyang benefits from keeping tensions high. It seems Japan was put on notice with these latest missile tests:

Shortly after North Korea launched another missile towards Japan, residents were awakened to blaring sirens, emergency text messages and instructions broadcast over loudspeakers, sending some running for shelter.

North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan's northern Hokkaido Island into the sea on Tuesday morning, which prompted the Japanese government to trigger its "J-Alert" warning system. [...]

Earlier this month, North Korea said it was finalizing a plan to launch four Hwasong-12 missiles over Japan and into waters around the tiny island of Guam, which hosts 7,000 U.S. military personnel on two main bases and has a population of 160,000.

Japanese Defense officials have since confirmed that the missile could reach Guam:

Japanese defence officials today chillingly confirmed the missile launched over Hokkaido could have reached Guam.

Defence minister Itsunori Onodera said: "The flight range of the missile amounted to 5,000 kilometers [3,107 miles.] Obviously, a missile of that type could reach Guam."

Further reading:

• The logic of North Korea's 'madness'
• Must be a coincidence: North Korea just happens to have mineral stockpiles worth trillions