The United States warned Wednesday it will use military force -- if necessary -- against the growing nuclear threat from North Korea, following the communist nation's Fourth of July test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching North America.
North Korea's leader, Kim Jung Un, had kept his country's first intercontinental ballistic missile
(ICBM) hidden from spy satellites until just before it was rolled into
launch position and aimed into space. Powered by a two-stage rocket
engine, it flew for 37 minutes on Tuesday. The missile could have
reached Alaska, had it been aimed in that direction, CBS News' David
Martin reports from the Pentagon.
Leon Panetta
CBS News
"There's no question we've crossed a threshold here in the North Koreans' ability to develop an ICBM,"
Leon Panetta, former CIA director and defense secretary during the
Obama administration, told CBS News. "It represents a very serious
national security threat to the United States."
U.S. intelligence
first identified it as just an intermediate range missile, which perhaps
explained President Trump's initial, rather flip reaction -- a tweet
apparently asking about Kim Jong Un, Martin reports.
"Does this guy have anything better to do with his life?" Mr. Trump tweeted.
But David Wright of the Union of Concerned Scientists did
his own calculations and got it right: the missile could have flown more
than 4,000 miles.
"I've been watching North Korea for a long time
and I'm surprised by how fast they've been able to pull out new missile
designs, launch them and despite having some failures do relatively
well," Wright told CBS News.
David Wright
CBS News
Wright
estimates it would take North Korea another couple years to develop an
ICBM that could send a 1,000-pound nuclear warhead hurtling toward the
U.S., but unless something happens, the day when North Korea will have
that capability is coming.
"We're going to see them reach that point and it may be sooner rather than later," Wright said.
The
U.S. and South Korea responded to the latest test with some missile
launches of their own, but Panetta says it will take more than shows of
force to change Kim Jung Un's mind.
"You can't out-bully a bully
in North Korea," Panetta said. "So it doesn't make a lot of sense to
simply sit back and threaten this leader."
North
Korean leader Kim Jong Un reacts with scientists and technicians of the
DPRK Academy of Defence Science after the test-launch of the
intercontinental ballistic missile Hwasong-14 in this undated photo
released by North Korea's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang
on Wed., July 5, 2017.
KCNA/Reuters
The
Pentagon could make good on its threats, Martin reports, but nobody
from the secretary of defense on down favors military action, which they
say could lead to catastrophic loss of life on the Korean Peninsula.
At an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council Wednesday, Ambassador Nikki Haley said the U.S. will propose tougher sanctions against North Korea, CBS News' Ben Tracy reports from Beijing. This includes restricting oil imports and cutting off sources of hard currency.
"Today is a dark day," Haley said. "It is a dark day because
[Tuesday's] actions by North Korea made the world a more dangerous
place... North Korea's launch of an ICBM is a clear and sharp military
escalation."
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President
Vladimir Putin met in Moscow and announced that they oppose any use of
force against North Korea or sanctions that would strangle its economy.
China
is North Korea's main ally and accounts for more than 80 percent of its
trade. To pressure the North into ending its missile tests China has stopped buying North Korean coal.
But it has not cut off oil shipments to North Korea fearing that could
cause Kim Jong Un's regime to collapse causing the Korean Peninsula to
destabilize.
Jeffrey Lewis is an expert on nuclear policy. He says
without a coordinated international response, tough talk and sanctions
are the only realistic weapons the U.S. has to fight North Korea.
Jeffrey Lewis
CBS News
"The
Russians and the Chinese just don't care… it's not their problem,"
Lewis told CBS News. "So I would expect that cycle to repeat, they'll be
condemned, they'll be angry about it, they'll do a nuclear test and
we'll be back to square one again. Later, rinse, repeat."
China
and Russia are calling on North Korea to halt its missile and nuclear
tests, Tracy reports, but in exchange they want the U.S. and South Korea
to end their joint military exercises in the region. The U.S. isn't
likely to agree to that.
President Trump, who is in Poland on the first stop on a trip
that will take him to the G20 summit in Germany this week -- is now
looking at ways to cut off North Korea's financial lifeline without
Beijing's help, CBS News' Margaret Brennan reports.
Despite Mr. Trump's very public attempts to befriend President Xi Jinping -- including at his Mar-a-Lago resort -- Beijing remains strongly opposed to action that would destabilize Kim Jong Un's regime. Mr. Trump said Wednesday, "So much for China working with us," ahead of a planned meeting this week with President Xi.
Ahead
of Mr. Trump's meeting with Putin at the G20, pressure has been added
to the already high stakes one-on-one, Brennan adds. Mr. Trump does not
have diplomatic experience, and squaring off with President Putin -- a
highly experienced operator -- is new territory.
The White House
said there's no agenda for the meeting but it comes amid multiple
investigations into Russian meddling in the U.S. election. It's unclear
if Mr. Trump will confront Putin about that, Brennan reports.
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