While global stock markets breathed a sigh of dip-buying relief today that the world did not end, North Korea just ratcheted up the rhetoric one more time with state media reporting the North Korean leader is "being briefed on the Guam attack plan" today, adding that "if a second Korean War breaks out, it would inevitably be a nuclear war."
Less than a day after Joseph Dunford, the commander of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told South Korean President Moon Jae-in that the US is ready to use “the full range of military capabilities to defend our allies and the U.S. homeland,” Defense Secretary and retired Gen. James Mattis told reporters that the situation with North Korea “could escalate into war” if the isolated country fires a missile at the US.
"If they fire at the United States, it could escalate into war very quickly," Mattis said, according to Reuters.
After President Donald Trump warned on Friday that the US military is “locked and loaded” and presumably prepared for an all-out nuclear showdown with North Korea, administration officials engaged in that most artful of Trump-era maneuvers: softening the president’s rhetoric without appearing to undercut him.
China's Ministry of Commerce said that Beijing will halt imports of coal, iron, iron ore and seafood from North Korea starting on Tuesday, cutting an important economic lifeline for the Pyongyang regime, as it implemented a package of sanctions passed by the United Nations Security Council on August 6.
Between North Korea’s constant nuclear test provocations and the recent “fire and fury” comments by President Trump, concerns about nuclear conflict are re-ignited around the world.
So, how many nuclear weapons are there, and what exactly is happening right now? Let’s launch into it.
WHO HAS ACCESS TO NUCLEAR WEAPONS?
Courtesy of: Visual Capitalist