10 August, 2017
Guam's governor on Thursday said the U.S. territory was "well-equipped" to handle any North Korean strike thanks to robust infrastructure that had survived earthquakes and typhoons, after Pyongyang released a detailed plan to launch missiles towards the island.
But the Guam Daily Post said in an editorial that although the island's residents were used to North Korea's threats, the situation was more precarious today because "a feisty, not-so-cool-headed commander-in-chief lives in the White House now".
Earlier in the day, the strategic force of the North's military said it's working on a new operational plan to hit the waters near Guam with four Hwasong-12 mid-range ballistic missiles that would fly over Japan.
Though local officials downplayed any threat and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was unruffled as he headed to Guam to refuel on his trip back to Washington from Malaysia, people who live and work on the island said they could no longer shrug off the idea of being a potential target.
A U.S. B-1B bomber (L) flies over Korea along with a South Korean F-15K fighter on July 30, 2017, in this photo provided by the Air Force.
Meanwhile, the defense ministry said the secretive nation is believed to have made "considerable" progress in miniaturizing nuclear warheads.
The message came hours after President Trump warned North Korea on Tuesday that it will be "met with fire and fury and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before", if it does not stop threatening the United States.
US diplomats aren't giving up on avoiding a military conflict.
Its proximity to China, Japan, the Philippines and the Korean Peninsula has long made the island an essential possession of the USA military.
The U.S. military has said it plans to increase its presence on Guam and will move thousands of U.S. Marines now stationed in Japan to the island between 2024 and 2028.
Guam serves as a launching pad for the USA military.
Anderson Air Force Base hosts B52 bombers and fighter jets.
It's not the first time North Korea has threatened Guam, which is a crucial, strategic hub for USA forces in the Pacific.
"North Korea has always threatened other countries".
Todd and Mitch Thompson, two brothers who are both lawyers on Guam, said they haven't seen anyone panicking or stocking up on supplies.
But there's also some resentment about not being able to vote in the general election for US president. Its natives are USA citizens by birth. In 2013, state media cited leader Kim Jong Un as having ordered his military to prepare plans on launching strikes on USA military bases in Guam, Hawaii and South Korea as well as the American mainland.
Guam is armed with the U.S. Army's defense system known as Terminal High Altitude Area Defense, or THAAD, which can intercept missiles.
