The tensions on the Korean peninsula have been escalating over the past few weeks. May 25th saw North Korea test a second nuclear bomb. Now the threats against the US take a new leap:
BBC: North Korea threatens nuclear ‘fire shower’ if attacked
North Korea today threatened to retaliate with a nuclear “fire shower” if it is attacked by the US and warned it would expand its nuclear arsenal, a month after it carried out a controlled nuclear explosion in defiance of the UN security council.
The regime used the 59th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean war to step up its threats against the US, whose navy is tracking a North Korean vessel off the Chinese coast that is suspected of carrying weapons.
Earlier this month the UN banned all weapons exports from North Korea in response to the May 25 nuclear test, its second in three years.
The latest warning came as speculation mounted that Pyongyang is preparing to test launch short- and medium-range missiles.
North Korea has banned ships from the waters off its east coast until July 10 for “military exercises”, but South Korean and US intelligence officials do not believe the tests will involve a long-range Taepodong-2 missile, which is theoretically capable of reaching Hawaii.
Yesterday President Barack Obama extended Washington’s sanctions against North Korea for another year and warned that the regime’s nuclear weapons programme posed “an unusual and extraordinary threat” to the US.
North Korea, which is thought to possess between five and seven nuclear bombs, recently restarted its main nuclear reactor, which is capable of reprocessing spent fuel rods used in the production of weapons-grade plutonium.
So what can we expect? Will North Korea fire a nuclear missile on Hawaii on July 4th?
North Korea may launch a long-range ballistic missile towards Hawaii on American Independence Day, according to Japanese intelligence officials.
The missile, believed to be a Taepodong-2 with a range of up to 4,000 miles, would be launched in early July from the Dongchang-ni site on the north-western coast of the secretive country.
Intelligence analysts do not believe the device would be capable of hitting Hawaii’s main islands, which are 4,500 miles from North Korea.
Details of the launch came from the Japan’s best-selling newspaper, Yomiuri Shimbun.
Both Japanese intelligence and U.S. reconnaissance satellites have collated information pointing to the launch, according to the report.
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