This undated photo released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on May 30, 2017 shows a test-fire of a ballistic missile at an undisclosed location in North Korea. (Photo by AFP)
The Pentagon has finished revising its options against North Korea and will soon present them to President Donald Trump, American officials say.
The package includes a military response and would be handed over to Trump in case of a new missile or nuclear warhead test that indicates the North has made significant progress in developing weapons capable of hitting the US, CNN reported Thursday, citing two officials.
The news came only a day after US National Security Adviser HR McMaster confirmed the preparation of some military options.
"What we have to do is prepare all options because the President has made clear to us that he will not accept a nuclear power in North Korea and a threat that can target the United States and target the American population," he said.
According to McMaster, “denuclearization” was the only solution to the ongoing situation on the Korean Peninsula, something that he said needs more cooperation from China.
In an apparent break from Trump’s view that Beijing has tried and failed to curb Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programs, McMaster said the Chinese leadership knew that it “does have a great deal of control over that situation mainly through the powers of the economic…relationship."
The Trump administration’s focus on North Korea is nothing short of an obsession, a point that can be inferred from the words of CIA Director Mike Pompeo.
"I hardly ever escape a day at the White House without the President asking me about North Korea and how it is that the United States is responding to that threat Pompeo told MSNBC this past weekend. "It's very much at the top of his mind."
People watch a ground based interceptor missile of the US military take off at Vandenberg Air Force base, California, May 30, 2017. (Photo by AFP)
Last week, Trump himself called for “rapid” action on North Korea because it was “causing tremendous problems.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s UN Ambassador Nikki Haley warned members of Congress on Wednesday that Pyongyang was closer to developing strategic weapons than Washington thought.
"You are more optimistic saying it is multiple years before an ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile) comes forward," she told the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "I think it's going to happen sooner, because they are on target to do that."
Previous US estimates put North Korea three to five years away from developing weapons capable of targeting US mainland.
“All options” are on the table, one military official told CNN, while hoping that a diplomatic solution was still possible with help from China.
US revising military options for North Korea
Just in: US sanctions Chinese bank for North Korea ties
The United States has imposed sanctions on a Chinese bank, accusing it of laundering money for North Korean companies.
Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin announced the sanctions Thursday, cutting China's Bank of Dandong off from accessing the US financial system.
The US claims the Chinese bank acts a pipeline to support alleged illicit financial activity by North Korea.
“This bank has served as a gateway for North Korea to access the U.S. and international financial systems, facilitating millions of dollars of transactions for companies involved in North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs,” Mnuchin said.
In my opinion, knowing Trump possesses a quick tempered personality,a strike on North Korea seems inevitable..
If Trump does not strike North Korea under his term or terms.
It will never happen...........
