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North Korea kicked off 2017 with Kim Jong Un suggesting the country is nearly ready to test-launch an intercontinental ballistic missile.
But President-elect Donald Trump doesn\u2019t seem convinced, saying \u201cit won\u2019t happen.\u201d
North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching parts of the U. S. It won’t happen!
Trump responded to Kim’s annual New Year’s address on Sunday, in which he said that plans for launching a missile have\u00a0\u201creached the final stage,\u00a0\u00bb though he did not explicitly say it was an intercontinental ballistic missile. The test would come a year after\u00a0testing what the North claims was its first hydrogen bomb.
During his speech, Kim said he would bolster his country’s military capabilities unless the U. S. stopped\u00a0war games with South Korea. He stopped short of threatening a war with the South, arguing that the country had to avoid another Korean war. Instead, he said, the country should focus on building its economy under a five-year plan announced in May.
South Korea\u2019s Unification Ministry said in a statement that it \u201cstrongly condemns\u201d Kim\u2019s threat to proceed with a test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile and strengthen North Korea\u2019s nuclear-weapon capabilities.
Trump has said in the past that he would work with China to \u201cclose down\u201d North Korea\u2019s nuclear weapons program, but that strategy may have changed. During the general election he said it was up to China to deal with the threat North Korea posed in the region.
China, North Korea’s biggest ally, signed on to international sanctions imposed by the\u00a0United Nations Security Council\u00a0in response to\u00a0North\u00a0Korea’s nuclear weapons tests, but one expert told USA TODAY it could walk away from them.
Trump followed up with a swipe at China and its relationship with North Korea.
China has been taking out massive amounts of money & wealth from the U. S. in totally one-sided trade, but won’t help with North Korea. Nice!<\/p>\n