U.S. to send missile defenses to Guam over North Korea threat

Thu Apr 4, 2013 12:28am EDT

 

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Washington had been informed of the potential attack by North Korea, a spokesman for its army said in a statement carried by the English-language service of state news agency KCNA. It was unclear how such a warning was given since North Korea does not have diplomatic ties with Washington.
The report from KCNA appeared to re-state many of the month-long fusillade of threats emanating from Pyongyang.
Experts say North Korea is years away from being able to hit the continental United States with a nuclear weapon, despite having worked for decades to achieve nuclear-arms capability.
North Korea has previously threatened a nuclear strike on the United States and missile attacks on its Pacific bases, including in Guam, a U.S. territory in the Pacific.
Those threats followed new U.N. sanctions imposed on the North after it carried out its third nuclear test in February.
"Some of the actions they've taken over the last few weeks present a real and clear danger," Hagel told an audience at the National Defense University in Washington.
Despite the rhetoric, Pyongyang has not taken any military action and has shown no sign of preparing its 1.2 million-strong armed forces for war, the White House said on Monday.
That indicates its threats are partly intended for domestic consumption to bolster young leader Kim Jong-un ahead of celebrations marking the anniversary of the April 15 birthday of Kim Il-sung, the state's founder and the younger Kim's grandfather.
Caitlin Hayden, spokeswoman for the White House National Security Council, criticized the latest North Korean statement.