Next target Guam, North Korea says
Story highlights
- North Korea fired a missile over Japan Tuesday, first ever over the island
- Trump said "all options are on the table" in regards to the North Korean threat
(CNN)North
Korea's missile launch on Tuesday was a prelude to more military
operations directed at the US territory of Guam, North Korean state
media said Wednesday.
Pyongyang said it fired an intermediate-range missile Hwasong-12 in Tuesday's test.
The
missile's flight path took it over Japan, further fueling tensions
between North Korea and the United States and its allies, Japan and
South Korea.
Tuesday's
launch was "the first step of the military operation of the (North
Korean military) in the Pacific and a meaningful prelude to containing
Guam," a report from the state-run Korean Central News Agency said.
It said Pyongyang would be "conducting more ballistic rocket launching drills with the Pacific as a target in the future."
A
photo released by North Korea state media appearing the show the launch
of a missile which flew from North Korea over Japan on August 29.
'All options on the table'
Earlier, US President Donald Trump warned Pyongyang that "all options are on the table."
Kim
Jong Un's regime regularly fires missiles into the sea between its own
territory and Japan, however this is the first North Korean ballistic
missile to ever fly over the country.
North
Korean officials told CNN in Pyongyang the launch was overseen by Kim,
who was "very satisfied with the performance of the missile."
An
undated photo appears to show North Korean leader Kim Jong Un
overseeing a missile launch, likely to be the one launched by North
Korea on August 29.
They
said the launch sent a strong message in response to ongoing joint
US-South Korean military drills in the southern half of the Korean
Peninsula. State media also pointed out that the launch came on the
107th anniversary of the annexation of Korea by Japan in 1907.
It
also followed a fiery exchange of threats and insults between Trump and
the North Korean regime in recent weeks, after state media said Kim was
considering plans finalized by military chiefs to fire a missile off Guam.
In
measured statements Tuesday, Trump said: "The world has received North
Korea's latest message loud and clear: this regime has signaled its
contempt for its neighbors, for all members of the United Nations, and
for minimum standards of acceptable international behavior."
"Threatening
and destabilizing actions only increase the North Korean regime's
isolation in the region and among all nations of the world. All options
are on the table," he said.
Japanese
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe -- who had a 40-minute phone call with Trump
on Tuesday -- described the launch as a "reckless act."
"This
launch of a North Korean missile is an unprecedented serious and grave
threat to Japan," Abe said after the call, adding that Trump said "the
US stands with Japan 100%."
"I
would like to make the utmost effort to protect the lives and assets of
the Japanese people under a strong alliance between Japan and US."
What happened
The
missile, an intermediate range ballistic missile, was fired just before
6 a.m. Japan time (Monday 5 p.m. ET). The launch set off emergency
sirens in northern Japan, triggering text messages that warned residents
to seek cover.
"The
launch occurred in the vicinity of Sunan Air Base, North Korea and flew
east ... The ballistic missile overflew the territory of northern Japan
before landing in the Pacific Ocean approximately 500 nautical miles
east of Japan," a statement from the Pentagon said.
It
was the fourth missile North Korea fired in four days -- Pyongyang
tested three short-range ballistic missiles, one of which failed, from
Kangwon province that landed in water off the Korean Peninsula.
South
Korea responded by conducting a bombing drill at 9:30 a.m. local time
to test its "capability to destroy the North Korean leadership" in cases
of emergency, an official with the country's Defense Ministry told CNN.
Guam
has been a focal point of North Korea's anger against the US. The
Pacific island is the closest US territory to North Korea. It hosts
Andersen Air Force base, from which the US has been staging B-1 bomber
flights over the Korean Peninsula, often in response to North Korea's
missile tests.
In
early August North Korea said it was "examining the operational plan"
to strike areas around Guam with medium-to-long-range strategic
ballistic missiles.
Specifically, a
KCNA statement mentioned a potential strike on Andersen Air Force Base
designed "to send a serious warning signal to the US."
In Wednesday's statement, North Korea called Guam the "advanced base of invasion."
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