09 August, 2017
"An attack or threat on Guam is a threat or attack on the US".
The island measures just 58kms in length and 20kms across but is big enough for the US Army anti-missile system, the Andersen Air Force Base and a major naval port at Apra Harbor.
As recently as Monday, two U.S. air force B-1B bombers flew from Guam to join their counterparts from South Korea and Japan for a mission over the Korean peninsula, about 3,400km away, in which the air forces practised various manoeuvres.
This is not the first time that DPRK has threatened Guam.
It is home to 6,000 U.S. military personnel, a number expected to nearly double when thousands of U.S. Marines move there from Japan, under a delayed bilateral agreement aimed at reducing the U.S. military footprint on southern island of Okinawa.
Madeleine Z Bordallo, congresswoman for Guam, said she was confident USA forces could protect it from the "deeply troubling" North Korean nuclear threat. He added that the THAAD, or Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System, is installed in the Pacific area by the United States to shoot down enemy missiles - meaning "there is a.00001 chance of that missile getting through that layer".
"I want to reassure the people of Guam that now there is no threat to our island or the Marianas", Governor Eddie Calvo was quoted as saying by Efe news.
Guam's congressional delegate, Madeleine Bordallo, in a statement Tuesday the latest reports on North Korea were "deeply troubling" but that she remains "confident that Guam remains safe and protected".
"We will continue to keep the public updated on any changes or requests for action".
South Korea is monitoring "possible provocation" by North Korea after Pyongyang warned of missile strikes against the American Guam island in the Pacific, Seoul's Unification Ministry said on Wednesday.
A travel agent on Guam said they haven't had a surge of customers seeking to book flights off the island.
Ryu Yong-seok, a market analyst at KB Securities, said tensions between North Korea and the United States weighed on the main index. Since then he has launched foreign bureaus for CNSNews.com in Jerusalem, London and the Pacific Rim.