North Korea’s leader has delayed a decision on firing missiles towards Guam while he waits to see what the U.S. does next, the North’s state media said on Tuesday, as South Korea’s President said Seoul would seek to prevent war by all means.
In his first public appearance in about two weeks, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspected the command of the North’s army on Monday, examining a plan to fire four missiles to land near the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam, the official KCNA said in a report.
“He said that if the Yankees persist in their extremely dangerous reckless actions on the Korean Peninsula and in its vicinity, testing the self-restraint of the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea], the latter will make an important decision as it already declared,” the report said.
Pyongyang's plans to fire missiles near Guam prompted a surge in tensions in the region last week, with U.S. President Donald Trump saying the U.S. military was “locked and loaded” if North Korea acted unwisely.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in said on Tuesday there would be no military action without Seoul’s consent and his government would prevent war by all means.
“Military action on the Korean Peninsula can only be decided by South Korea and no one else can decide to take military action without the consent of South Korea,” Mr. Moon said in a speech to commemorate the anniversary of the nation’s liberation from Japanese military rule in 1945.
‘Halt rhetoric’
Speaking to his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said it was urgent the U.S. and North Korea “put the brakes” on mutually irritating words and actions to lower temperatures and prevent an “August crisis”, China’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Japan will be seeking further reassurance from Washington in meetings between Japan’'s defence chief and foreign minister and their U.S. counterparts on Thursday. “The strategic environment is becoming harsher and we need to discuss how we will respond to that,” a Japanese Foreign Ministry official said in a briefing in Tokyo.
“We will look for the U.S. to reaffirm it defence commitment, including the nuclear deterrent.”
The Liberation Day holiday, celebrated by both North and South, will be followed next week by the joint U.S.-South Korean military drills.
North Korea has persisted with its nuclear and missile programmes, to ward off perceived U.S. hostility, in defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions and sanctions.
Critical juncture
On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said the crisis was approaching a critical juncture and urged all sides in the standoff to help “put out the flames” and not add fuel to the fire.
Ms. Hua said she noted comments by U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson about using diplomacy to resolve the issue, saying China hoped these words can be put into action. “We also call on North Korea to echo this in response,” Hua told a daily news briefing.
