The New York Post is reporting that The Telegraph has cited three anonymous sources who confirm that the US is preparing to deliver a “bloody nose” attack against North Korea to knock out its nuclear weapons program.
The White House has “dramatically” ramped up its military plans amid fears that diplomacy won’t thwart North Korean despot Kim Jong Un from making good on his threats, sources told the UK’s Telegraph.
One option is destroying a launch site before the rogue regime uses it for a new missile test, while another is targeting weapons stockpiles, according to the news outlet.
The Trump administration hopes that pre-emptive action would show the trigger-happy dictator that the United States is serious about stopping his bellicose pursuits and persuading him to negotiate.
The Telegraph cited three anonymous sources, one inside the administration and two former officials familiar with the White House thinking.
“The Pentagon is trying to find options that would allow them to punch the North Koreans in the nose, get their attention and show that we’re serious,” a former US security official briefed on policy told the Telegraph.
President Trump’s decision to launch 59 cruise missiles against a Syrian airfield in response to the country’s chemical weapons attack that killed more than 80 civilians is considered an indication of his resolve, the paper reported.
The current plans indicate that Trump is more willing to use a military option than previously thought.
Last week, Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham told the Atlantic he believed there was a 30 percent chance of Trump using a military option, but that if the hermit kingdom tested another nuclear weapon, that percentage would skyrocket to 70.
So, are we to believe the anonymous sources that are being quoted by the Telegraph, a British news publication? Should the increased tensions on the border between the South Korean and North Korean military be of concern, leading up to the Winter Olympics that are being hosted by South Korea?
Just yesterday, The New York Post reported that South Korea’s military fired 20 rounds of warning shots Thursday as North Korean soldiers, who approached a borderline after their comrade defected to South Korea, officials said.
South Korean media reported there were sounds of gunfire from the North after South Korea’s warning shots. South Korean defense officials couldn’t immediately confirm the report.
North Korean soldiers have occasionally — and often safely — fled through the land border. Thursday’s defection came nearly 40 days after another North Korean soldier crossed the jointly controlled area at the border, the only places where rival troops are only feet away, amid a barrage of bullets fired by colleagues. He was shot multiple times and remains hospitalized in South Korea.
On Thursday morning, another soldier, whose personal details weren’t immediately disclosed, used a different section of the border to defect.
