Trump says all options on table after North Korea fires missile over Japan

Trump says all options on table after North Korea fires missile over Japan
x
Highlights

President Donald Trump warned on Tuesday that all options are on the table for the United States to respond to North Korea’s firing of a ballistic missile over northern Japan’s Hokkaido island into the sea in a new show of force.

WASHINGTON/SEOUL: President Donald Trump warned on Tuesday that all options are on the table for the United States to respond to North Korea’s firing of a ballistic missile over northern Japan’s Hokkaido island into the sea in a new show of force.

The missile test further increased tension in east Asia as U.S. and South Korean forces conducted annual military exercises on the Korean peninsula, angering Pyongyang which sees the war games as a preparation for invasion.

North Korea has conducted dozens of ballistic missile tests under its leader, Kim Jong Un, in defiance of U.N. sanctions, but firing projectiles over mainland Japan is rare.

Trump, who has vowed not to let North Korea develop nuclear missiles that can hit the mainland United States, said the world had received North Korea’s latest message “loud and clear”.

“This regime has signalled its contempt for its neighbors, for all members of the United Nations, and for minimum standards of acceptable international behaviour,” Trump said in a statement.

“Threatening and destabilising actions only increase the North Korean regime’s isolation in the region and among all nations of the world. All options are on the table,” he said.

Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe spoke and agreed that North Korea “poses a grave and growing direct threat” to the United States, Japan and South Korea, the White House said.

World stocks tumbled, with Japan’s Nikkei hitting a four-month low before paring losses to end down about 0.5 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average opened sharply lower before rebounding to trade largely unchanged.

Investors scampered to safe-haven assets, with gold jumping to its highest price since November and the benchmark U.S. 10-year treasury yield dipping to its lowest level since the day after the Nov. 8 U.S. presidential election.

INTERMEDIATE RANGE

The North Korean missile was likely an intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) and further analysis was underway to determine whether it was a success or failure, two U.S. officials said. It appeared to be a KN-17, or Hwasong-12, according to initial data, they said.

Show Full Article
Print Article
Next Story
More Stories
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENTS