In a threat that could be seen as a warning of World War 3, North Korea leader Kim Jong Un promised that his country would deliver \u2018a bigger gift package\u2019 of missiles to the United…<\/b>
\nNorth Korea leader Kim Jong Un issued his latest dire threat against the United States military on Tuesday after he supervised another missile launch in his country\u2019s apparently accelerating missile testing program the previous day. Calling the increased U. S. military presence in the Sea of Japan a \u201cprovocation, \u201d Kim warned that he would \u201csend a bigger \u2018gift package\u2019 to the Yankees\u201d as payback.
On Monday, the United States sent a pair of B-1B Lancer bomber jets flying over the Korean peninsula, in what South Korea called a joint military drill between the two countries. According to a report in The Korea Herald newspaper, the bombers flew within 50 miles of Gangneung City, one of the nearest cities to the Military Demarcation Zone which marks the border between North and South Korea.
The Korean Central News Agency, the state-run media mouthpiece of the North Korean government, accused the United States and South Korea of staging a \u201cnuclear bombing drill\u201d with the flyover of the B-1B bombers. Although the B1 was first deployed in the 1970s as a high-altitude nuclear-capable bomber, following the end of the Cold War in the 1990s. the Air Force downgraded the plane to a conventional weapons bomber.
The U. S. now relies on the B2 stealth bomber and the B-21 Raider, also a stealth aircraft, as the country\u2019s primary means of delivering nuclear weapons from the air.
This week, the U. S. sent two of the Navy\u2019s 19 aircraft carriers to the Sea of Japan, the USS Carl Vinson and USS Ronald Reagan, where they will conduct battle exercises along with other U. S. warships. This move is certain to be taken as a \u201cprovocation\u201d by North Korea.
The Hwasong SCUD missile launched by North Korea on Monday landed in the Sea of Japan, inside an area designated as Japan\u2019s \u201cexclusive economic zone, \u201d bringing loud protests from the Japanese government.
\u201cThis ballistic missile launch by North Korea is highly problematic from the perspective of the safety of shipping and air traffic, and is a clear violation of United Nations security council resolutions, \u201d Japan government spokesperson Yoshihide Suga said in a statement to the press. \u201cJapan absolutely cannot tolerate North Korea\u2019s repeated provocative actions. We have strongly protested to North Korea and condemn its actions in the strongest terms.\u201d
Nonetheless, when Donald Trump posted his own response to the latest North Korea missile test on his Twitter account, he said that the missile test showed \u201cdisrespect\u201d to China, making no mention of Japan, a close U. S. ally.
The missile penetrating Japan\u2019s exclusive economic zone followed a test in March of four missiles fired simultaneously, three of which landed near, though not inside, Japan\u2019s EEZ.
The United States has also apparently been undertaking preparations for a war with North Korea, placing Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile defense systems in South Korea; systems that, in theory, could help ward off a North Korea missile attack on the South.
In fact, the U. S. has been so zealous in building up THAAD defense systems in South Korea that the country\u2019s president Moon Jae-in said on Tuesday that he had been taken by surprise when four new U. S. THAAD missile launchers were discovered in the country; placed there without authorization from the South Korean government. Moon ordered an investigation into how the launchers were brought into South Korea, calling the development \u201cvery shocking.\u201d
Moon won South Korea\u2019s presidential election earlier this month, promising to take a more moderate stance toward North Korea, including direct talks and even a possible presidential visit to the North.
[Featured Image By KRT\/AP Images]<\/p>\n

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