TRIGGER-happy tyrant Kim Jong-un laughed as he fired North Korea’s first ICBM declaring it was a special “gift for American b******s on July 4”.
Bizarrely describing the intercontinental missile as a “handsome good-looking boy” the despot “added that we “should send them gifts once in a while to help break their boredom”.
In a direct response to Pyongyang’s missile launch, US and South Korean soldiers today fired “deep strike” precision missiles into South Korean territorial waters.
South Korea says the response was “intended as a strong warning against North Korean provocation.”
“Eighth US Army and Republic of Korea (ROK) military personnel conducted a combined event exercising assets countering North Korea’s destabilising and unlawful actions on July 4,” a statement from US and South Korean officials reads.
“This exercise utilised the Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) and the Republic of Korea Hyunmoo Missile II, which fired missiles into territorial waters of South Korea along the East Coast.
“The system can be rapidly deployed and engaged. The deep strike precision capability enables the ROK-US Alliance to engage the full array of time critical targets under all weather conditions.”
The statement adds that South Korea and the US are ‘committed to peace and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and throughout the Asia-Pacific.
“The US commitment to the defence of the ROK in the face of threats is ironclad.”
Gen Vincent Brooks, commander of US forces in Korea, and Gen Lee Sun-jin, chairman of the South’s joint chiefs of staff, said in a statement: “We are able to change our choice when so ordered by our alliance’s national leaders. It would be a grave mistake for anyone to believe anything to the contrary.
“As the combined live fire demonstrated, we may make resolute decisions any time, if the alliance commanders-in-chief order it. Whoever thinks differently is making a serious misjudgement.”
Separately, Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said: “We remain prepared to defend ourselves and our allies and to use the full range of capabilities at our disposal against the growing threat from North Korea.”
The US confirmed yesterday that North Korea’s latest missile launch was indeed an intercontinental ballistic missile, as the North had boasted and the U.S. and South Korea had feared.
Admitting it was capable of reaching Alaska, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called it a “new escalation of the threat” to the US.
It came after Donald Trump mocked Kim after he launched his first “successful” intercontinental ballistic missile and vowed “to end America’s nuclear threat”.
The state-run Korea Central News Agency quoted the dictator saying the US “attempts to test our determination and ignores our warnings” before breaking into laughter and describing the missile as “handsome as a good-looking boy”.
The agency said the leader “added that we should send them gifts once in a while to help break their boredom”.
The agency reported the tyrant stated the country would not negotiate with America to give up the weapons program, until the US abandoned its hostile policy towards North Korea.
Despite North Korea’s bragging it is still unclear if they have the technology to get a nuclear missile onto a ICBM.
North Korea’s landmark test of the “game changer” Hwasong-14 missile was personally overseen by Jong-un, announced Korean Central Television.
What is an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)?
It is a guided ballistic missile with a mimimum range of 5,500 kilometres.
They are primarly designed for nuclear weapons delivery.
They can also be used to carry chemical or biological weapons – although these have not been deployed on ICBMs.
ICBMs have greater range and speed than other ballistic missiles.
They were first developed in Nazi Germany during World War II.
The launch came as Americans prepared to mark Independence Day, prompting President Donald Trump to urge China to act to “end this nonsense once and for all.”
US Ambassador Nikki Haley on Tuesday spoke by phone with China’s Ambassador Liu Jieyi, who holds the council presidency this month, to convey the US request for an urgent meeting.
Trump responded by asking if the tyrant has “anything better to do”.
The South’s military confirmed an “unidentified ballistic missile” was fired into the Sea of Japan at around 9.10am local time.
A successful ICBM test launch marks a significant step forward for secretive Pyongyang’s weapons capability.
ICBMs have a minimum range of about 3,418 miles, but some are designed to travel 6,214 miles or further.
California is roughly 5,592 miles from North Korea.
Trump continued his war of words with the North Korea leader on Twitter, asking: “North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?”
Once US missile scientist, David Wright, estimated that the missile, if the reported time and distance are correct, would have been on a very highly lofted trajectory and could have a possible maximum range of 4,160 miles, which could put Alaska in its range, if fired at a normal trajectory.
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The provocation comes just days after Seoul’s new leader Moon Jae-In and Trump focused on the threat from Pyongyang in their first summit.
And leaders of the US, China, Japan and South Korea are expected to discuss how to rein in the Secret State’s nuclear and missile tests at the G20 summit on July 7.
The device may have come down in Japan’s exclusive economic zone, a spokeswoman for Tokyo’s defence ministry said – waters extending 200 nautical miles from its coast.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said the missile flew “for about 40 minutes” – an unusually long flight time.
“This launch of a ballistic missile can never be tolerated, and Japan strongly protested to North Korea and condemned it,” he told a briefing.
Trump threw his weight behind Japan and China after the launch, tweeting: “Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!”
Pyongyang says it needs nuclear weapons to defend itself against the threat of invasion and has carried out multiple launches since Moon – who backs engagement with the North but also stresses the need for sanctions – was elected in May.
At their summit in Washington at the weekend, Trump declared that the US had run out of patience with North Korea over its weapons drive.
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“Together, we are facing the threat of the reckless and brutal regime in North Korea,” Trump said. “The nuclear and ballistic missile programs of that regime require a determined response.
“The North Korean dictatorship has no regard for the safety and security of its people, for its neighbours and has no respect for human life.”
He later discussed the issue in separate phone calls with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Shea Cotton, a researcher at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in the US, suggested Tuesday’s launch was deliberately timed to coincide with the anniversary of the US declaration of independence.
“It’s already 4th of July in North Korea,” he said on Twitter. “I somewhat suspect they’re shooting off some fireworks today specifically because of that.”
Timeline of North Korea's missile development
North Korea on Tuesday said it had tested an intercontinental ballistic missile, as its decades-long weapons programme reached a grave new phase.
Here are key dates in Pyongyang’s quest to develop a missile capable of hitting the United States:
Late 1970s: Starts working on a version of the Soviet Scud-B (range 300 kilometres or 186 miles). Test-fired in 1984
1987-92: Begins developing variant of Scud-C (500 km), Rodong-1 (1,300 km), Taepodong-1 (2,500 km), Musudan-1 (3,000 km) and Taepodong-2 (6,700 km)
Aug 1998: Test-fires Taepodong-1 over Japan as part of failed satellite launch
Sept 1999: Declares moratorium on long-range missile tests amid improving ties with US
July 12, 2000: Fifth round of US-North Korean missile talks ends without agreement after North demands $1 billion a year in return for halting missile exports
March 3, 2005: North ends moratorium on long-range missile testing, blames Bush administration’s “hostile” policy
July 5, 2006: North test-fires seven missiles, including a long-range Taepodong-2 which explodes after 40 seconds
Oct 9, 2006: North conducts underground nuclear test, its first
April 5, 2009: North Korea launches long-range rocket which flies over Japan and lands in the Pacific, in what it says is an attempt to put a satellite into orbit. The United States, Japan and South Korea see it as a disguised test of a Taepodong-2
May 25, 2009: North conducts its second underground nuclear test, several times more powerful than the first
April 13, 2012: North launches what it has said is a long-range rocket to put a satellite into orbit, but it disintegrates soon after blast-off
December 12, 2012: North launches a multi-stage rocket and successfully places an Earth observational satellite in orbit
February 12, 2013: Conducts its third underground nuclear test
January 6, 2016: North conducts its fourth underground nuclear test, which it says was of a hydrogen bomb — a claim doubted by most experts
March 9, 2016: Kim Jong-Un claims the North has successfully miniaturised a thermo-nuclear warhead
April 23, 2016: North test-fires a submarine-launched ballistic missile
July 8, 2016: US and South Korea announce plans to deploy an advanced missile defence system — THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense)
August 3, 2016: North Korea fires a ballistic missile directly into Japan’s maritime economic zone for the first time
September 9, 2016: Fifth nuclear test
March 6, 2017: North fires four ballistic missiles in what it says is an exercise to hit US bases in Japan
March 7, 2017: US begins deploying THAAD missile defence system in South Korea
May 14, 2017: North fires a ballistic missile which flies 700 kilometres before landing in the Sea of Japan. Analysts say it has an imputed range of 4,500 kilometres and brings Guam within reach
July 4, 2017: North Korea test-fires a ballistic missile which flies 930 kilometres before landing in the Sea of Japan. Analysts say it has an imputed range of 6,700 kilometres and brings Alaska within reach. Pyongyang later says it was a “landmark” test of a Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
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