TOKYO — North Korea will be casting a dark — and nuclear — shadow over U. S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis’ first foray abroad.
When Mattis calls on South Korea and Japan from Wednesday he will be visiting Washington’s two staunchest allies in Asia. Both host tens of thousands of American troops and both will be looking for reassurances the new administration in the U. S. is not going to drop the ball on North Korea.
North Korea, racing ever closer to having a nuclear-tipped missile that could strike the U. S. mainland, is without doubt already one of the biggest security challenges on new President Donald Trump’s plate. Lately, Pyongyang has been taking a wait-and-see stance toward Washington, hoping Trump might be willing to roll back America’s “hostile policies.”
Don’t expect that to last long.
If he hasn’t already got one, Trump may not have long to come up with a plan. Here are four reasons why:
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ICBM LAUNCH
One could come at any time.
Kim Jong Un warned in his annual New Year’s address that North Korea is in final stages of readiness to test-launch an intercontinental ballistic missile, a crucial step it needs to take to demonstrate it has the technology to attack the U. S. mainland. North Korean officials have followed up with statements that Pyongyang has the right to conduct such a launch any time it sees fit. Satellite imagery appears to suggest something is, indeed afoot, though the North could be bluffing, planning to launch a different kind of missile or may not even have a workable ICBM to test. Even so, the missile threat is real, and growing. Pyongyang has a wide range of short- and intermediate-range missiles capable of hitting South Korea, not to mention U.
