Deployment of THAAD: News & Discussions

[Hindustani78]

http://www.arabnews.com/node/1155626/world

SEOUL: North Korea could be preparing another missile launch, Seoul said Monday as it stepped up its defenses following Pyongyang’s biggest-ever nuclear test and declaration it had a hydrogen bomb.

The South and the United States will deploy more of the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile launchers that have infuriated Beijing, the defense ministry said.

The announcement came after Seoul fired an early morning volley of ballistic missiles in an exercise simulating an attack on the North’s nuclear test site.

Pictures showed South Korean short-range Hyunmoo ballistic missiles roaring into the sky in the pale light of dawn from a launch site on the country’s east coast.

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Osan US Air Base in Pyeongtaek, South Korea

http://www.arabnews.com/node/1155546/world#photo/0

SEOUL/WASHINGTON: South Korea’s military carried out a missile drill on Monday in response to North Korea’s sixth nuclear test, while global markets reacted to the sharp escalation in tensions between Pyongyang and the United States.

The United Nations Security Council was set to meet later on Monday to discuss fresh sanctions against the isolated regime and US President Donald Trump had asked to be briefed on all available military options, according to his defense chief.

South Korea’s air force and army conducted drills involving long-range air-to-surface missiles and ballistic missiles, the joint chiefs of staff said in a statement. Monday’s drill was carried out only by the South Korean military, but more were being prepared with US forces in the country, it said.

North Korea said on Sunday it had tested an advanced hydrogen bomb for a long-range missile, prompting the threat of a “massive” military response from the United States if it or its allies were threatened.

“Any threat to the United States or its territories, including Guam or our allies, will be met with a massive military response, a response both effective and overwhelming,” US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said outside the White House after meeting Trump and his national security team.

“We are not looking to the total annihilation of a country, namely North Korea,” Mattis said. “But as I said, we have many options to do so.”

TOUGHER SANCTIONS?
Despite the tough talk, the immediate focus of the international response was expected to be on tougher economic sanctions against Pyongyang.

Diplomats have said the United Nations Security Council could now consider banning Pyongyang’s textile exports and the North’s national airline, stop supplies of oil to the government and military, prevent North Koreans from working abroad and add top officials to a blacklist to subject them to an asset freeze and travel ban.

US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said on Sunday he would put together a package of new sanctions to potentially cut off all trade with North Korea.

“If countries want to do business with the United States, they obviously will be working with our allies and others to cut off North Korea economically,” Mnuchin told Fox News.

North Korea, which carries out its nuclear and missile programs in defiance of UN Security Council resolutions and sanctions, said on state television the hydrogen bomb test ordered by leader Kim Jong Un had been a “perfect success.”

The bomb was designed to be mounted on its newly developed intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), it said.
The test had registered with international seismic agencies as a man-made earthquake near a test site. Japanese and South Korean officials said the tremor was about 10 times more powerful than the one picked up after North Korea’s previous nuclear test a year ago.

The Japanese yen, gold and sovereign bonds all rose early on Monday as North Korea’s latest nuclear test provoked the usual knee-jerk shift to safe havens, while futures pointed to a difficult day for global equities.

Japan is the world’s largest creditor nation and traders tend to assume Japanese investors would repatriate funds at times of crisis, thus pushing up the yen. Many wonder, however, if Japanese assets would really remain in favor if war actually broke out in Asia.

South Korea’s finance minister vowed to implement policies to support financial markets if instability caused by North Korea’s latest nuclear weapon test showed signs of spreading to the real economy.

“We are aware that there could be negative ripple effects should geopolitical risks resurface,” Kim Dong-yeon said in a policy meeting urgently scheduled with the central bank and financial regulators before financial markets opened.

ESCALATING CRISIS
After weeks of profound tensions over North Korea’s nuclear program, the size and scope of the latest test set off a new round of diplomatic handwringing.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who met on the sidelines of a BRICS summit in China, agreed to “appropriately deal” with North Korea’s nuclear test, China’s official Xinhua news agency reported.

As North Korea’s main ally, China said it strongly condemned the nuclear test and urged Pyongyang to stop its “wrong” actions.

In a series of early morning tweets, Trump appeared to rebuke ally South Korea, which faces an existential threat from North Korea’s nuclear program.

“South Korea is finding, as I have told them, that their talk of appeasement with North Korea will not work, they only understand one thing!” Trump said on Twitter.

South Korea’s new president, Moon Jae-in, has argued for continuing dialogue with its neighbor over its nuclear program, while also supporting international sanctions.

A former senior State Department official criticized Trump for accusing South Korea of appeasement.

“It was unseemly, unhelpful, and divisive to gratuitously slap our major ally at the very moment when the threat from (North Korea) has reached a new height,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Reports that the United States was considering pulling out of its trade deal with South Korea have also ratcheted up tensions.

Trump has previously vowed to stop North Korea developing nuclear weapons and said he would unleash “fire and fury” if it threatened US territory.

THERMONUCLEAR DEVICE?
Under third-generation leader Kim, North Korea has been pursuing a nuclear device small and light enough to fit on a long-range ballistic missile without affecting its range and making it capable of surviving re-entry.

Pyongyang tested two ICBMs in July that potentially could fly about 10,000 km (6,200 miles), putting many parts of the US mainland within range and prompting a new round of tougher international sanctions.

Hours before the test, North Korean state news agency KCNA released pictures showing Kim inspecting a silver, hourglass-shaped warhead during a visit to the North’s nuclear weapons institute.

KCNA said North Korea “recently succeeded” in making a more advanced hydrogen bomb. It says its weapons programs are needed to counter US aggression.

http://www.arabnews.com/node/1156266/world

SEOUL: South Korea said on Tuesday an agreement with the US to scrap a weight limit on its warheads would help it respond to North Korea’s nuclear and missile threat after it conducted its sixth and largest nuclear test two days ago.

South Korean officials believe more weapons tests by the reclusive state are possible, despite international outrage over Sunday’s nuclear test and calls for more sanctions against it.

South Korea’s Asia Business Daily, citing an unidentified source, reported that North Korea had been observed moving a rocket that appeared to be an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) toward its west coast.

The rocket started moving on Monday and was spotted moving only at night to avoid surveillance, the newspaper said.

South Korea’s Defense Ministry, which warned on Monday that North Korea was ready to launch an ICBM at any time, said it was not able to confirm the report.

Analysts and South Korean policymakers believe North Korea may test another weapon on or around Sept. 9, when it celebrates its founding day.

North Korea’s fifth nuclear test fell on that date last year, reflecting its tendency to conduct weapons tests on significant dates.

North Korea says it needs to develop its weapons to defend itself against what it sees as US aggression.

South Korea, after weeks of rising tension, is talking to the US about deploying aircraft carriers and strategic bombers to the Korean peninsula, and has been ramping up its own defenses.

US President Donald Trump and his South Korean counterpart, Moon Jae-in, agreed on Monday to scrap a warhead weight limit on South Korea’s missiles, South Korea’s presidential office said, enabling it to strike North Korea with greater force in the event of war.

The White House said Trump gave “in-principle approval” to the move.

The US and South Korea signed a pact in 1979, a year after the South successfully tested a ballistic missile, with Washington expressing the need for limits on ballistic missile capability over concern that tests could undermine regional security.

South Korea and the US are technically still at war with North Korea after the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended with a truce, not a peace treaty.

Both sides have thousands of rockets and artillery pieces aimed at each other across the world’s most heavily armed border, but the North’s rapid development of nuclear weapons and missiles has altered the balance, requiring a stronger response from South Korea, officials say.

“We believe the unlimited warhead payload will be useful in responding to North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats,” South Korean Defense Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-gyun told a briefing.

Under current guidelines, last changed in 2012, South Korea can develop missiles up to a range of 800 km (500 miles) with a maximum payload of 500 kg (1,102 lb).

Most of North Korea’s missiles are designed to carry payloads of 100-1,000 kg (220-2,205 lb), according to Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), a US-based think thank.


South Korea’s navy held more exercises on Tuesday, a naval officer told a Defense Ministry briefing. .

“Today’s training is being held to prepare for maritime North Korean provocations, inspect our navy’s readiness and to reaffirm our will to punish the enemy,” the official said.

US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said on Monday North Korean leader Kim Jong Un was “begging for war” and urged the 15-member Security Council to impose the “strongest possible” sanctions to deter him and shut down his trading partners.

Haley said the US would circulate a new Security Council resolution on North Korea this week and wanted a vote on it on Monday.

Trump has repeatedly warned that “all options were on the table” regarding North Korea, including military options.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said threats of military action were counterproductive.

“Russia condemns North Korea’s exercises, we consider that they are a provocation,” Putin told reporters after a summit of the BRICS countries in China.

“(But) ramping up military hysteria will lead to nothing good. It could lead to a global catastrophe.

While referring to more sanctions as a “road to nowhere,” Putin said Russia was prepared to discuss “some details” around the issue. He did not elaborate.

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha said she believed her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, was open to more sanctions.

“I cannot tell you exact details as the minister asked me not to disclose the content of our discussion, but I could sense that China could be open to more sanctions,” Kang told lawmakers in parliament, referring to a phone call with Wang on Monday.

China’s Foreign Ministry said it would take part in security council discussions in “a responsible and constructive manner.”

Diplomats have said the Security Council could consider banning North Korean textile exports, banish its national airline and stopping supplies of oil to the government and military.

Other measures could include preventing North Koreans from working abroad and adding top officials to a blacklist aiming at imposing asset freezes and travel bans.

Sanctions imposed after missile tests in July were aimed at slashing North Korea’s $3 billion annual export revenue by a third by banning exports of coal, iron, lead and seafood.

China accounted for 92 percent of North Korea’s trade in 2016, according to South Korea’s government trade promotion agency.

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This handout photo taken on Tuesday and provided by South Korean Defense Ministry in Seoul shows South Korean navy vessels taking part in a naval drill off the east coast of South Korea. South Korea's Navy said it has conducted massive live-fire drills in the East Sea in a show of its resolve to retaliate against North Korea's provocations. — AFP

http://saudigazette.com.sa/article/516599/World/Asia/South-Korea


SEOUL — With Seoul expecting another North Korean missile test, South Korean warships on Tuesday conducted live-fire exercises at sea, a second-straight day of military swagger from a nation still rattled by the North's biggest-ever nuclear test.

The explosion Sunday, which Pyongyang said was a test of a hydrogen bomb, was a huge advance in the North's push for viable nuclear-tipped missiles capable of hitting the United States. It has also resulted in South Korea boosting its own military capabilities.

Washington and Seoul agreed to lift restrictions on South Korean missiles they'd previously agreed upon, according to the South Korean presidential office, allowing for Seoul to improve its pre-emptive strike capabilities against the North.

The Korean Peninsula has been in a technical state of war since the Korean War ended in an armistice in 1953. The near-constant unease has worsened in recent months as the North has displayed rapid improvement in its weapons capabilities, testing intercontinental ballistic missiles and a string of other missiles meant to target US forces in Asia and the US mainland.

More launches may be coming. The defense ministry said Monday that North Korea appeared to be planning a future missile launch, possibly of an ICBM, to show off its claimed ability to target the United States with nuclear weapons. It was unclear when such a launch might happen, but Sept. 9 is the anniversary of North Korea's founding and past launches have coincided with important national dates.

South Korean ships including a 2,500-ton frigate, a 1000-ton patrol ship and 400-ton guided-missile vessels participated in the drills aimed at retaliating against potential North Korean provocations, the defense ministry said. It plans more naval drills in its southern seas through Saturday. On Monday, Seoul used F-15 fighter jets and land-based ballistic missiles to simulate an attack on North Korea's nuclear test site to "strongly warn" Pyongyang over the recent detonation.

The UN Security Council held its second emergency meeting about North Korea in a week on Monday, with US Ambassador Nikki Haley saying the North's actions show that leader Kim Jong Un is "begging for war."

"Enough is enough. War is never something the United States wants. We don't want it now. But our country's patience is not unlimited," Haley said.

The heated words from the United States and the military maneuvers in South Korea are becoming familiar responses to North Korea's rapid, as-yet unchecked weapons progress.

South Korea has been seeking to obtain more powerful missiles for a so-called "kill chain" pre-emptive strike capability to cope with North Korea's growing nuclear and missile threat.

Since the late 1970s, South Korean missile developments have been limited by a bilateral "guideline" between the United States and Seoul. It was updated in 2012 to allow the South to increase the range of its weapons from 300 km to 800 km.

An agreement revealed Tuesday removes the 500-kg (1,100 pound) warhead limit on South Korea's maximum-range missiles, which would allow the South to potentially target the North's underground facilities and shelters.

In addition to expanding its missile arsenal and holding military exercises, South Korea is also strengthening its missile defense, which includes the high-tech Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery deployed in the southeastern county of Seongju.

North Korea is thought to have a growing arsenal of nuclear bombs and has spent decades trying to perfect a multistage, long-range missile to eventually carry smaller versions of those bombs. Both diplomacy and severe sanctions have failed to check its march to nuclear mastery.

President Donald Trump, asked in Washington if he would attack North Korea, said, "We'll see." No US military action appeared imminent, and the immediate focus appeared to be on ratcheting up economic penalties, which have had little effect thus far.

In tweets earlier this week, Trump threatened to halt all trade with countries doing business with North Korea, a clear warning to China. Such a move would be radical since the US imports about $40 billion in goods a month from China. China called that threat unacceptable and unfair.

Sunday's detonation builds on recent North Korean advances that include test launches in July of two ICBMs, which, when perfected, could target the US mainland. The North also threatened to launch a salvo of Hwasong-12 intermediate range missiles toward the US Pacific island territory of Guam, the home of military facilities the North claims are meant to target it.

The US has about 28,000 troops stationed in South Korea and is obliged by treaty to defend it in the event of war. — AP

 

[Hindustani78]

Seongju , South Korea
http://www.arabnews.com/node/1157376/world
BEIJING/VLADIVOSTOK: China said on Thursday it agreed the UN should take more action against North Korea after its latest nuclear test, while pushing for more dialogue to resolve the crisis on the Korean peninsula.

North Korea said it would respond to any UN sanctions and US pressure with “powerful counter measures,” accusing the US of aiming to start a war.

The United States wants the UN Security Council to impose an oil embargo on North Korea, ban its exports of textiles and the hiring of North Korean laborers abroad, and to subject leader Kim Jong Un to an asset freeze and travel ban, according to a draft resolution seen by Reuters on Wednesday.

Pressure from Washington has ratcheted up since North Korea conducted its sixth and largest nuclear test on Sunday. That test, along with a series of missile launches, showed it was close to achieving its goal of developing a powerful nuclear weapon that could reach the US.

“We will respond to the barbaric plotting around sanctions and pressure by the United States with powerful counter measures of our own,” North Korea said in a statement by its delegation to an economic forum in Vladivostok, in Russia’s Far East.

US President Donald Trump has urged China to do more to rein in its neighbor, which has pursued its weapons programs in defiance of UN sanctions and international condemnation.

“Given the new developments on the Korean peninsula, China agrees that the UN Security Council should make a further response and take necessary measures,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters on Thursday, without elaborating.

“Any new actions taken by the international community against the DPRK should serve the purpose of curbing the DPRK’s nuclear and missile programs, while at the same time be conducive to restarting dialogue and consultation,” he said, referring to North Korea by the initials of its official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
China is by far North Korea’s biggest trading partner, accounting for 92 percent of two-way trade last year. It also provides hundreds of thousands of tons of oil and fuel to the impoverished regime.

US Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said he had an executive order ready for Trump to sign that would impose sanctions on any country that trades with North Korea, if the UN does not put impose new sanctions on it.

Amid the rising tension, South Korea installed the four remaining launchers of a US anti-missile Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system on a former golf course south of its capital, Seoul, early on Thursday. Two launchers had already been deployed.

More than 30 people were hurt when about 8,000 police broke up a blockade near the site by about 300 villagers and members of civic groups opposed to the THAAD deployment, fire officials said.

The decision to deploy it has drawn strong objections from China, which believes the system’s radar could be used to look deeply into its territory and will upset the regional security balance.

China lodged another stern protest over the THAAD deployment on Thursday.

“We again urge South Korea and the United States to take seriously China’s and regional nations’ security interests and concerns, stop the relevant deployment progress, and remove the relevant equipment,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told a regular media briefing.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in spoke at the regional meeting in Vladivostok and agreed to try to persuade China and Russia to cut off oil to North Korea as much as possible, according to South Korean officials.

North Korea accused South Korea and Japan of “dirty politics” for what it said was the highjacking a meeting meant to be about economic development.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the meeting he thought the North Korea crisis would not escalate into nuclear war, predicting that common sense would prevail.

But he said he believed North Korea’s leadership feared that any freeze of its nuclear program would be followed by what amounted to “an invitation to the cemetery.”

North Korea says it needs its weapons to protect itself from US aggression.

South Korea and the US are technically still at war with North Korea after the 1950-53 Korean conflict ended with a truce, not a peace treaty.

China and Russia have advocated a “freeze for freeze” plan, under which the US and South Korea would stop major military exercises in exchange for North Korea halting its weapons programs.
But neither side appears willing to budge.

South Korean Marines wrapped up a three-day firing drill aimed at protecting its islands just south of the border with North Korea, while the air force will finish up a week-long drill on Friday.