BackNorth Korea: US commander warns of growing nuclear threat
Admiral Harry Harris says North Korea is making steady progress toward developing ballistic missiles, and Kim Jong Un's capabilities will match its rhetoric if left unchecked
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Washington: Korea is making steady progress toward developing ballistic missiles that can hit the US and its capabilities will match its rhetoric if left unchecked, the commander of US forces in South Korea said.
Kim Jong Un’s regime is testing ballistic missiles and nuclear devices with growing frequency and aggressiveness, admiral Harry Harris said in testimony Wednesday before the House Armed Services Committee. He said all countries in the region must take the threat seriously because North Korea’s missiles “point in every direction."
“I believe that we have to look at North Korea as if Kim Jong Un will do what he says and right now there’s probably a mismatch" between his rhetoric and his capabilities, Harris told the committee.
The testimony by Harris comes amid a heightened focus on North Korea in Washington this week. The Trump administration invited the entire Senate to a briefing by top officials Wednesday afternoon at the White House, with the president planning to drop by. House members will get a separate administration briefing at the Capitol later in the day. Harris will testify before a Senate committee on Thursday, while Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will chair a UN Security Council meeting on North Korea in New York on April 28.
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On Wednesday, Harris echoed President Donald Trump’s argument that all options remain on the table for responding to North Korean. The administration must consider “every possible step" to defend the US and its allies, he said.
While Harris wouldn’t discuss publicly scenarios for a pre-emptive strike against North Korea, he did address the risk that US action could be met by a response that would kill many South Koreans, Japanese and US troops in the region. “A lot more Koreans and Japanese and Americans die" if Kim’s regime reaches its nuclear arms goals, Harris said.
US forces have begun installing a more advanced system for tracking and intercepting ballistic missiles than South Korea’s current network of shorter-range Patriot batteries are designed to hit. The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system, known as Thaad, should be operational by the end of the year, according to South Korea’s defence ministry. American forces are working with Korea to complete the deployment “as soon as feasible," the US Defence Department said in an emailed statement.
South Korean election
The introduction of Thaad has angered China, which is concerned it could be used to spy on its own facilities. The anti-missile system also has become a campaign issue ahead of South Korea’s May 9 presidential election, with frontrunner Moon Jae-in denouncing the expedited deployment while his closest rival Ahn Cheol-soo says it must take place.
In his testimony, Harris also endorsed Trump administration statements that the US goal isn’t to topple Kim’s regime. “We want to bring Kim Jong Un to his senses, not to his knees," he said.
“We’re all concerned that the decades of self-imposed isolation of North Korean leaders, and especially the cruel, erratic behaviour of its current leader, make confrontation potentially more likely," Representative Mac Thornberry, the Texas Republican who heads the Armed Services Committee, said in opening Wednesday’s hearing. “We must increase our military presence and capability in the region."Bloomberg
Kanga Kong also contributed to this story.
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