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U.S. NEWS Wednesday 9 august 2017
Trump warns North Korea of ‘fire and fury’ as nuke threat worsens

long-range missile tests last
Continued from front
month that showed the
The isolated and impov- North could potentially
erished dictatorship has reach the continental Unit-
strived for decades to ed States with its missiles.
have the ability to strike The newly revealed U.S.
the U.S. and its Asian allies, intelligence assessment in-
and the pace of its break- dicates those missiles can
throughs is already having carry nuclear warheads.
far-reaching consequenc- Denouncing the U.N. sanc-
es for stability in the Pacific tions through state media,
and beyond. The nuclear the North warned: “We
advances were detailed will make the U.S. pay by
in an official Japanese as- a thousand-fold for all the
sessment and a Washing- heinous crimes it commits
ton Post story that cited U.S. against the state and peo-
intelligence officials and ple of this country.”
a confidential Defense In- For North Korea, having a
telligence Agency report. nuclear-tipped missile that
The U.S. now puts the North could strike America would
Korean arsenal at up to 60 be the ultimate guarantee
nuclear weapons, more against invasion by its su-
than double most assess- perpower adversary.
ments by independent It is an ambition decades President Donald Trump speaks during a briefing on the opioid crisis, Tuesday, Aug. 8, 2017, at
experts, according to the in the making. North Ko- Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, N.J. From left are, White House senior adviser Kellyanne
Conway, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price, Trump, first lady Melania Trump, and
Post’s reporting. rea began producing fis- National Drug Control Policy acting Director Richard Baum.
“North Korea had best not sile material for bombs in (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
make any more threats to the early 1990s and con-
the United States,” said a ducted its first nuclear test
stern-looking Trump, seat- explosion in 2006. Four sub-
ed with his arms crossed sequent nuclear tests, the
and with his wife beside latest a year ago, have ac-
him. “They will be met with celerated progress on min-
fire and fury like the world iaturizing a device — some-
has never seen.” thing North Korea already
“He has been very threat- claimed it could do. Over
ening beyond a normal that span, multiple U.S.
state. And as I said they will presidents have tried and
be met with fire, fury and failed to coax or pressure
frankly power the likes of Pyongyang into abandon-
which this world has never ing its nuclear ambitions.
seen before.” The remarks The secrecy of the North’s
appeared scripted, with nuclear program and the
Trump glancing at a paper underground nature of
in front of him. They evoked its test explosions make it
President Harry Truman’s very difficult to properly as-
announcement of the U.S. sess its claims. But the new
atomic bomb dropped on assessments from Japan
Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945, and the U.S. suggest that
in which he warned of “a doubts over the North’s
rain of ruin from the air, abilities are receding.In an
the like of which has never annual report, Japan’s De-
been seen on this earth.” fense Ministry on Tuesday
But it wasn’t clear what concluded that “it is pos-
Trump, who is prone to hy- sible that North Korea has
perbole and bombast in far achieved the miniaturiza-
less grave situations, meant tion of nuclear weapons
by the threat. White House and has developed nu-
officials did not elaborate. clear warheads.” Japan, a
The Trump administration key U.S. ally, is a potential,
considers North Korea to front-line target of North
be America’s greatest na- Korean aggression.
tional security threat and The Post story, citing un-
tensions have steadily es- named U.S. intelligence of-
calated this year. ficials, went further. It said
Pyongyang had threat- the Defense Intelligence
ened the U.S. in response Agency analysis, complet-
to the U.N. Security Coun- ed last month, assessed
cil’s adoption this week- North Korea has produced
end of new, tougher sanc- nuclear weapons for bal-
tions spearheaded by listic missile delivery, includ-
Washington. The sanctions ing by intercontinental
followed groundbreaking missiles.q