TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - US President Donald Trump threw a threat to North Korea after a US intelligence community report which concluded that Kim Jong-un's regime has succeeded in producing nuclear warheads.
As reported by The Washington Post, Wednesday, August 9, 2017, Trump responded to Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons with "fire and anger".
"North Korea will not make any other threats to the United States," President Trump told reporters at Trump National Golf Club in Bedminster, New Jersey, on Tuesday.
"They will be greeted with fire and anger as the world has never seen before."
The speech marks a sharp rise in rhetoric from the United States. Therefore, previous US government comments were focused on finding non-military solutions.
Pentagon spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Chris Logan, said the United States is trying to create a peaceful denuclearization from the Korean Peninsula.
Read: North Korea Weighs Guam Strike After Trump Warning
"However, we remain ready to defend ourselves and our allies, using the various capabilities that exist, with respect to the ever-increasing threat from the North," Logan said.
Trump's comments were in response to a secret report from the US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) dated July 28, 2017. The report concludes that Pyongyang has succeeded in producing miniatures of nuclear warheads that can be mounted on intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM).
"The IC (intelligence community) believes North Korea has produced nuclear weapons for ballistic missile delivery, to be sent by ICBM type missiles (intercontinental ballistic missiles)," the report said.
The general conclusions of the assessment have been verified by two US officials who know the document. It is not known whether the isolated communist regime has successfully tested a miniature nuclear weapon or not, although North Korea last year officially claimed to have succeeded in doing so.
He and the Office of the US National Intelligence Director were reluctant to comment on the intelligence community's assessment report on Kim Jong-un's nuclear weapons production capability.
The Pentagon also did not comment on the story, but the Washington Post said two US officials who knew the analysis had verified the conclusion. Meanwhile, CNN also claimed to have confirmed the report.
The progress indicates that North Korea is on a further path to have a nuclear missile ready to launch, compared to originally anticipated.
Experts have said last month that it would take two or three years for North Korea to develop a nuclear-armed ICBM.
ICBM stands for Intercontinental Ballistic Missile or intercontinental ballistic missiles. These types of missiles have a very long range, above 5,000 kilometers, and up to 12,000 kilometers.These intercontinental ballistic missiles are designed to carry nuclear weapons.
Currently, the calculations of these experts suddenly changed after Pyongyang last month tested two ICBMs. It is the first time that North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un has demonstrated such an ability.
Kim's first launch was described as a reward for the US by showing the missile has a potential range to hit Alaska.
The second missile tested last week had an even greater range, with some experts even stating that New York was within range of the missile.
The US State Department also declined to comment on the Washington Post report.
But Deputy Secretary of State, John Sullivan, said the President Trump’s government continues to make sure China and other countries impose new sanctions on North Korea.
THE WASHINGTON POST | CNN | IB TIMES | SITA PLANASARI AQUADINI
