US-North Korea Escalating Tensions: President Donald Trump said that Japan could shoot down North Korean missiles with the help of US air defense systems that are supplied to this country. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe confirmed that if necessary, the defense forces of his country will indeed be able to intercept these hostile missiles.
On Monday, President Donald Trump said that Shinzo Abe’s government would purchase a “huge number” of weapons from the United States to counter the North Korean threat, mainly from incoming ballistic missiles.
“The only way to detect and destroy absolutely all components of the North Korean nuclear program is a ground invasion,” Michael Dumont
The Pentagon, however, states that it is possible to completely eliminate the North Korean nuclear threat only by a ground invasion of that country. This statement was made by the representative of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Rear Admiral Michael Dumont.
According to Dumont, it would extremely be challenging to even estimate the possible losses in such an operation. Dumont described the possible risks of such an operation, including the likelihood of a nuclear counterattack by North Korea while the US attempts to neutralize nuclear arsenals in deep tunnels.
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Michael Dumont added that a detailed discussion of such a possible operation should be conducted behind closed doors. In a statement signed by a number of congressmen who served in the US armed forces, Ted Lew, a Democrat from California, said that Rear Admiral Dumont’s words cause serious concern, and warned that in the first days of military operations, a conflict with North Korea could lead to hundreds of thousands and even millions of victims. “The analysis confirms the long-known fact: there are no good options for military operations against North Korea,” he said.
Trump already stated that if the US had to defend itself against North Korea or protect its allies from it, then America would have no choice but to completely destroy North Korea. The current trip of Donald Trump to Asia is the longest trip across Asia to the US president in the last 25 years. The tour takes place during a period of high tension in relations with North Korea.
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Earlier this year, Trump said that if the United States had to defend itself against North Korea or protect its allies from it, then America would have no choice but to completely destroy North Korea. “The president should stop speaking with provocative statements that interfere with our diplomats and endanger the lives of US servicemen,” Congressman Lew then said.
The Rear Admiral’s letter states that the Joint Chiefs of Staff prefers to resolve the North Korean problem by diplomatic means and with the help of economic pressure on Pyongyang. According to him, the number of possible victims of the military conflict will depend on how massively the North Koreans retaliate and target South Korean Capital Seoul, which is only 56 kilometers from the North Korean Border. The Joint Chiefs of Staff also fear that North Korea may, despite existing prohibitions, use biological or chemical weapons.
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