The only thing we know for certain in the looming showdown between North Korea and the US and its allies is that Kim Jong Un is an arrogant little twerp who knows not what he is dealing with. He will gladly sacrifice millions of innocent lives for the sake of his ego. Whether a preemptive strike or a retaliatory strike makes no difference to the many innocent people who will die.
According to the New York Post, the Japanese prime minister said North Korea may have the ability to launch missiles carrying deadly sarin gas at his country, as tensions rise in the region over the rogue regime’s nuclear ambitions, it was reported Thursday.
“There is a possibility that North Korea already has a capability to deliver missiles with sarin as warheads,” Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told a parliamentary session on national security, according to Reuters .
The heightened concerns come as North Korea appears to be gearing up for its sixth nuclear weapons test at a launch site that satellite images show is “primed and ready,” a Washington-based monitoring group said.
The group, 38 North, said pictures taken Wednesday show “continued activity” — including additional personnel, trailers and netting being suspended over equipment — at its Punggye-ri nuclear test site on the country’s east coast.
Compounding matters is that North Korea on Saturday will celebrate the “Day of the Sun,” marking the 105th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung, the country’s founder. In the past, its leaders have used the occasion to carry out weapons tests.
The repressive regime of his grandson, Kim Jong Un, has been experimenting with fuel that would extend the range of its rockets and has launched several missile tests this year, including as recently as April 5. North Korea carried out its fifth nuclear test on Sept. 9, 2016.
President Trump has lobbied Chinese President Xi Jinping to put pressure on North Korea and reportedly is preparing tough new sanctions that would involve an oil embargo, intercepting cargo ships and banning the country’s airline, Air Koryo.
“There’s a whole host of things that are possible, all the way up to what’s essentially a trade quarantine on North Korea,” a US official told Reuters.
Trump, who has warned he might take unilateral military action if China can’t rein in North Korea, sent an “armada” consisting of an aircraft carrier strike group led by the USS Carl Vinson to the region as a show of force.
China warned of rushing into a military confrontation and called for talks with North Korea.
“Military force cannot resolve the issue,” Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said.
He warned that history will note who instigates the conflict.
“Whoever provokes the situation, whoever continues to make trouble in this place, they will have to assume historical responsibility,” Wang said.
