18 August, 2017
On Tuesday, the South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who was elected in Presidential election after the impeachment of his predecessor Park Geun-Hye, has decisively weighed in on the escalating tensions between North Korea and the United States.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who has previously advocated dialogue with North Korea, yesterday joined the calls for restraint. "So I want all South Koreans to believe with confidence that there will be no war".
North Korea's threats against Guam and its advancing missile capabilities, highlighted by a pair of intercontinental ballistic missile flight tests in July, have raised security jitters among many South Koreans who worry that a fully functional ICBM in Pyongyang would force the United States to rethink whether to trade NY or Washington for Seoul in the event of a war on the peninsula.
Kim Jong Un appeared to reference the joint drills Tuesday, saying he would "watch" U.S. actions "a little more" before making a decision whether to launch missiles into the waters around Guam - a plan that was outlined last week as USA and North Korea traded increasingly hostile rhetoric.
Referring to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Trump also told reporters, "If he does anything with respect to Guam or any place else that's an American territory or an American ally, he will truly regret it". It also came a week before the USA and South Korean militaries are due to start their annual fall exercises, in which they practice responding to an invasion by or the collapse of North Korea.
North Korea has shown less and less interest in dealing with China diplomatically over its weapons programme or listening to Beijing's pleas.
Why not be able to develop missiles suitable for firing at much greater distances - as does North Korea?
The latest bout of tension was sparked by the North's two intercontinental ballistic missile tests last month, which appeared to bring much of the United States within range.
Moon's remarks followed a heated war of words between Washington and Pyongyang.
China has been angered by US freedom of navigation patrols near Chinese-controlled islands in the disputed South China Sea and USA arms sales and support for self-ruled Taiwan, which China claims as a wayward province. "Without worldwide cooperation and co-existence, economic development is impossible", Moon said, urging the North to come to the dialogue table.
China and Russian Federation have both called for the U.S.to suspend large-scale military exercises in exchange for North Korea suspending its missile and nuclear test as a first step toward direct talks.
Pyongyang's news agency described the upcoming war games, the world's largest computerized or simulated drill, as an "exercise for a large-scale nuclear war".
In addition, China has repeatedly called out the United States for exacerbating tensions on its borders through beefing up its military capabilities and intensifying their so-called freedom of navigation patrols in the South and East China Seas.
China has appointed a new special envoy for the North Korean standoff, the foreign ministry said on Monday, a relatively low-profile diplomat now in charge of Asian affairs, amid renewed worldwide concern over China's nuclear-armed neighbour. "I am confident that the USA will respond calmly and responsibly to the current situation with the same stance that we have".
"The Chinese military is willing to make efforts with the USA side to strengthen strategic communication, increase strategic mutual trust, deepen practical cooperation, appropriately handle problems and disputes and effectively manage and control risks", the ministry cited Fang as saying.
"Any military action taken on the Korean peninsula would be in consultation with our allies", he said.
-South Korean military exercises that enrage the North each year could make diplomacy even more hard.
"If it is necessary, I will fly immediately to Washington and also visit Beijing and Tokyo", he said.
The latest United Nations resolution aimed to slash a third from North Korea's $3 billion annual exports by banning Pyongyang's trade in coal, iron, iron ore, lead and seafood.
North Korea has said the flight path for such a launch would go over western Japan.
The action comes as the United States has been seeking help from China to curb North Korea's development of nuclear weapons.
Moon said that the South Korean government will "make every effort" to prevent the current situation from "developing into a serious crisis".
