Growing concern as N. Korea promises multiple missile tests
Posted April 5, 2013 8:03 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
PYONGYANG, NORTH KOREA (NEWS1130) – Is it just posturing and rhetoric from a brash, young leader trying to flex his nuclear muscle? Or does Kim Jong Un simply not know where to draw the line?
North Korea keeps raising the stakes, threatening multiple missile tests today after declaring a “state of war” with South Korea and threatening the US with nuclear Armageddon.
Pyongyang has also warned foreign embassies to evacuate because their safety can no longer be guaranteed after Wednesday. British and Russian diplomats confirm they’ve been warned to move their personnel out of North Korea.
The Economist calls it “Korean Roulette.” Kim’s nuclear threats have ramped up tensions on the Korean peninsula to levels not seen in almost two decades.
With reports the isolated country has loaded up two mid-range missiles on mobile launchers ABC News Chief Global Affairs Correspondent Martha Raddatz in Seoul, South Korea says it could be a big gamble on the part of the North.
“A launch would only make things worse and the risk of mistake causing serious damage, either on purpose or because of a technical failure, could mean a robust response from the US and its allies,” explains Raddatz.
The North Korean missiles reportedly have a range of well over 3,000 kilometres, able to reach Japan or possible the US territory of Guam.
The US is taking the threats seriously, mobilizing more force in the region. The former head of the CIA’s Korea Unit, Bruce Klingner, says Kim remains a mystery to policymakers.
“It’s a great deal of concern in that we know very little about a leader of a nuclear-armed nation during a time of rising tension,” he says.
Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution Michael O’Hanlon says the US needs Kim incentive to back down.
“One thing we can probably conclude about North Korean leaders – the military and now the new head of the state, Kim Jong Un – is they probably are not crazy. They’re certainly brutal. They’re certainly heartless,” he tells ABC News.
For its part, the South Korean navy has deployed two destroyers equipped with advanced radar systems, which can track hundreds of targets as far as 1,000 kilometres away.
