Chinese government advisors and a senior military officer warned Beijing that it must be ready for a war on the Korean peninsula, with the risk of conflict higher than ever before, the SCMP reported on Saturday. They also warned that Beijing, once seen as Pyongyang’s biggest ally with influence over its neighbor, was losing control of the situation.
Authored by Robert McCoy via The Strategic Culture Foundation,
While the military and political environments on the Korean Peninsula have evolved, American policy towards the North has not changed since 1991
North Korea’s Hwasong-14 ICBM. Photo: KCNA via Reuters
The reality is North Korea has nuclear weapons – perhaps thermonuclear bombs – and they are probably miniaturized enough to fit atop its missiles, one of which will soon be, if not already, able to reach all parts of the continental United States.
Following the launch of the "largest ever" US-South Korean aerial military drills, and Pyongyang's latest, most impressive, missile test, the Russian foreign ministry issued a warning that "the situation on the Korean Peninsula is on the brink of war," adding that "Kim seeks to raise the stakes before any talks."
North Korea carried out its first missile test in more than two months earlier this week, ending the longest stretch of calm since President Trump took office. But according to satellite images exclusively obtained by Fox News, the North Korean military is already constructing another launch pad at the Panghyon Airbase in North Pyongyang - the same site where it carried out its July 4 launch of an ICBM.
This suggests that the North is already preparing for its next missile test.
More than two months have passed since North Korea held one of its missile tests - the longest period of tranquility this year, although it may be ending soon: South Korea’s National Intelligence Service warned on Monday that it has detected suspicious activity at the North’s missile research facility – the latest sign that another test may occur by the end of the year. South Korean intelligence has on more than one occasion captured spy satellite images of the North Korean military transporting equipment from the North’s missile facility near Pyongyang.