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A2 UP FRONT
Friday 11 august 2017
Escalating tensions: Q&A:

Trump threatens North Korea with ‘trouble’ What does the US military

do on the island of Guam?
By JON LEMIRE The president insisted the action if the North were to
JOSH LEDERMAN North had been “getting follow through. By AUDREY McAVOY
Associated Press away with a tragedy that Trump echoed that threat Associated Press
BEDMINSTER, N.J. (AP) — can’t be allowed.” Thursday, insisting if North HONOLULU (AP) — The small U.S. territory of Guam has
Not backing down, Presi- “North Korea better get Korea took any steps to become a focal point after North Korea’s army threat-
dent Donald Trump warned their act together, or they attack Guam, its leaders ened to use ballistic missiles to create an “enveloping
Kim Jong Un’s government are going to be in trouble would have reason to be fire” around the island.
on Thursday to “get their like few nations have ever nervous. The exclamation came after President Donald Trump
act together” or face ex- been in trouble,” Trump “Things will happen to them warned Pyongyang of “fire and fury like the world has
never seen.” Here’s a look at the U.S. military’s role on
the island, which became a U.S. territory in 1898.

WHAT INSTALLATIONS ARE ON GUAM AND HOW SIG-
NIFICANT ARE THEY?
There are two major bases on Guam: Andersen Air
Force Base in the north and Naval Base Guam in the
south. They are both managed under Joint Base Mari-
anas. The tourist district of Tumon, home to many of
Guam’s hotels and resorts, is in between.
The naval base dates to 1898, when the U.S. took over
Guam from Spain after the Spanish-American War. The
air base was built in 1944, when the U.S. was preparing
to send bombers to Japan during World War II.
Today, Naval Base Guam is the home port for four
nuclear-powered fast attack submarines and two sub-
marine tenders.
Andersen Air Force Base hosts a Navy helicopter
squadron and Air Force bombers that rotate to Guam
from the U.S. mainland. It has two 2-mile (3-kilometer)
long runways and large fuel and munitions storage fa-
cilities.
Altogether, 7,000 U.S. military personnel are stationed
A man watches a television screen showing President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim on Guam. Most are sailors and airmen. The military
Jong Un during a news program at the Seoul Train Station in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Aug. plans to move thousands of U.S. Marines to Guam from
10, 2017. President Donald Trump issued a new threat to North Korea on Thursday, demanding Okinawa in southern Japan.
that Kim Jong Un’s government “get their act together” or face extraordinary trouble. He said his Guam’s total population is 160,000.
previous “fire and fury” warning to Pyongyang might have been too mild.
(AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)
WHAT ROLES DO THE BASES PLAY IN THE REGION
Guam is strategically located a short flight from the Ko-
traordinary trouble, and said, flanked by Vice Presi- like they never thought pos- rean peninsula and other potential flashpoints in East
suggested his earlier threat dent Mike Pence. Accusing sible, OK?” Trump said. He Asia. Seoul is 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) to the north-
to unleash “fire and fury” on his predecessors of insuffi- did not specify what they west, Tokyo is 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) north and
North Korea was too mild. cient action, Trump said it might be. Taipei is 1,700 miles (2,700 kilometers) west.
“Maybe that statement was time somebody stood Military analysts said it was Because Guam is a U.S. territory, the U.S. military may
wasn’t tough enough,” up to the pariah nation. unusual for Pyongyang to launch forces from there without worrying about up-
Trump said, in the latest Though tensions have give such a precise target setting a host nation that may object to U.S. actions.
U.S. salvo in an escalating been building for months for a military action. Still, The naval base is an important outpost for U.S. fast-
exchange of threats be- amid new missile tests by there were no signs that attack submarines that are a key means for gathering
tween the nuclear-armed the North, the pace has North Korea was seriously intelligence in the region, including the Korean penin-
nations. A day after North intensified since the U.N. mobilizing its population sula and the South China Sea where China has been
Korea laid out plans to strike Security Council on Sat- for war, such as by pulling building military bases on man-made islands.
near Guam with unsettling- urday passed sweeping workers from factories or
ly specificity, there was no new sanctions Trump had putting the army on formal HOW HAS THE U.S. USED GUAM TO ADDRESS THE THREAT
observable march toward requested. The sanctions alert. FROM NORTH KOREA?
combat, despite the angry prompted the new heated “There’s a lot of theater to The U.S. military began rotating bombers — the B-2
rhetoric from both sides. volley of rhetoric. this whole thing,” said Bob stealth bomber as well as the B-1 and B-52 — to An-
U.S. officials said there was In the latest move by Carlin, former Northeast dersen in 2004.
no major movement of U.S. North Korea, its military an- Asia chief for the State It did so to compensate for U.S. forces diverted from
military assets to the region, nounced a detailed plan Department’s intelligence other bases in the Asia-Pacific region to fight in the
nor were there signs Pyong- to fire four Hwasong-12 mis- arm. Middle East. The rotations also came as North Korea
yang was actively prepar- siles over Japan and into Similarly, the U.S. military increasingly upped the ante in the standoff over its de-
ing for war. waters around the tiny U.S. gave no indications it per- velopment of nuclear weapons.
Trump declined to say territory of Guam, home to ceived a seriously escalat- In 2013, the Army sent a missile defense system to
whether the U.S. is consid- two U.S. bases and 160,000 ing threat from Pyongyang, Guam called Terminal High Altitude Area Defense or
ering a pre-emptive military people. North Korea said its such as moving to evacu- THAAD.
strike as he spoke to report- military would finalize the ate American personnel or It’s designed to destroy ballistic missiles during their fi-
ers before a briefing with his plan by mid-August, then their families from Guam, nal phase of flight.
top national security advis- wait for Kim’s order. U.S. al- where there are 7,000 U.S. A THAAD battery includes a truck-mounted launcher,
ers at his New Jersey golf lies Japan and South Korea troops, or South Korea, tracking radar, interceptor missiles and an integrated
resort. quickly vowed a strong re- where there are 28,000.q fire control system. q