US military considers shooting down North Korea missile tests, sources say
The
US military is considering shooting down North Korean missile tests as a show of strength to Pyongyang, two sources briefed on the planning have told the Guardian.
Amid heightened tensions over
North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, the Pentagon is looking for ways short of war to pressure the country into denuclearization, particularly if Pyongyang goes forward with a sixth nuclear test.
The defense secretary, James Mattis, has briefed Congress on the option, but the military has not yet decided to intercept a test missile.
One US official said the prospective shoot-down strategy would be aimed at occurring after a nuclear test, with the objective being to signal Pyongyang that the US can impose military consequences for a step Donald Trump has described as “
unacceptable”.
On a visit to South Korea this week, the US vice-president, Mike Pence, warned Pyongyang against testing Trump’s “
resolve”, and declared an end to Obama’s “strategic patience” policy.
But North Korea’s deputy foreign minister, Han Song-Ryol,
told the BBC that Pyongyang would continue to test missiles “on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis”. All-out war would ensue if the US took military action, he said.
US military considers shooting down North Korea missile tests, sources say
