As the United States prepares to send a missile defence system to Guam to defend it from North Korea, David Cameron warns it would be "foolish" to abandon Britain's nuclear deterrent Trident.
The Pentagon said it was deploying a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system to the Pacific island of Guam in the coming weeks. The THAAD system includes a truck-mounted launcher, interceptor missiles and a tracking radar.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said North Korea presented a "real and clear danger", making threats that he has had to take seriously, with the United States in recent weeks revamping its missile defence plans and positioning two guided-missile destroyers in the western Pacific.
The prime minister said the "highly unpredictable and aggressive" regime in North Korea was devloping ballistic missiles which could eventually threaten Europe.
Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Mr Cameron said: "Last year North Korea unveiled a long-range ballistic missile which it claims can reach the whole of the United States. If this became a reality it would also affect the whole of Europe, including the UK."
He added: "Does anyone seriously argue that it would be wise for Britain, faced with this evolving threat today, to surrender our deterrent?
Market jitters
Events on the Korean peninsula have begun to unnerve global financial markets long used to the rhetoric North Korea routinely hurls at Seoul and Washington.
"The assumption remains that this is more bluster ...," said Rob Ryan, a strategist with RBS in Singapore. "But from here, we've reached a level of tensions that say things can't get too much worse without an actual exchange of fire."
The broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.6 percent, dragged down by a 2 percent slump in South Korean shares, while the South Korean won slid 0.7 percent against the US dollar.US stocks sank on Wednesday after Hagel's comments and the Guam deployment news.
US threat
North Korea repeated its threat to launch a nuclear attack on the United States. Pyongyang said it had ratified a potential strike because of US military deployments around the Korean peninsula that it claimed were a prelude to a possible nuclear attack on the North. 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 US territory in the Pacific.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency said North Korea had moved what appeared to be a mid-range Musudan missile to its east coast on Thursday. The missile is believed to have a range of 3,000 km (1,865 miles) or more, which would put all of South Korea and Japan in range and possibly also Guam. North Korea is not believed to have tested the Musudan mid-range missiles, according to most independent experts
Border ban
For a second day, North Korea barred entry to a joint industrial complex it shares with the South on Thursday and said it would shut the zone if Seoul continued to insult it. The South Korean government said the North would allow 222 South Korean workers to leave the Kaesong industrial zone on Thursday. That would leave another 606 South Koreans in the complex. Seoul has urged its citizens to get out.
North Korea has threatened to shut the complex, one of the impoverished North's few sources of ready cash. The industrial park, just inside the border with North Korea, has not formally stopped operations since it was inaugurated in 2000. It houses 123 companies and employs 50,000 North Koreans making cheap goods such as clothing.
Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said North Korea presented a "real and clear danger", making threats that he has had to take seriously, with the United States in recent weeks revamping its missile defence plans and positioning two guided-missile destroyers in the western Pacific.
British arms
David Cameron said today it would be "foolish" to abandon Britain's Trident nuclear deterrent in the face of growing nuclear threats from North Korea and Iran.The prime minister said the "highly unpredictable and aggressive" regime in North Korea was devloping ballistic missiles which could eventually threaten Europe.
Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Mr Cameron said: "Last year North Korea unveiled a long-range ballistic missile which it claims can reach the whole of the United States. If this became a reality it would also affect the whole of Europe, including the UK."
He added: "Does anyone seriously argue that it would be wise for Britain, faced with this evolving threat today, to surrender our deterrent?
Market jitters
Events on the Korean peninsula have begun to unnerve global financial markets long used to the rhetoric North Korea routinely hurls at Seoul and Washington.
"The assumption remains that this is more bluster ...," said Rob Ryan, a strategist with RBS in Singapore. "But from here, we've reached a level of tensions that say things can't get too much worse without an actual exchange of fire."
The broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.6 percent, dragged down by a 2 percent slump in South Korean shares, while the South Korean won slid 0.7 percent against the US dollar.US stocks sank on Wednesday after Hagel's comments and the Guam deployment news.
US threat
North Korea repeated its threat to launch a nuclear attack on the United States. Pyongyang said it had ratified a potential strike because of US military deployments around the Korean peninsula that it claimed were a prelude to a possible nuclear attack on the North. 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 US territory in the Pacific.
South Korea's Yonhap news agency said North Korea had moved what appeared to be a mid-range Musudan missile to its east coast on Thursday. The missile is believed to have a range of 3,000 km (1,865 miles) or more, which would put all of South Korea and Japan in range and possibly also Guam. North Korea is not believed to have tested the Musudan mid-range missiles, according to most independent experts
Border ban
For a second day, North Korea barred entry to a joint industrial complex it shares with the South on Thursday and said it would shut the zone if Seoul continued to insult it. The South Korean government said the North would allow 222 South Korean workers to leave the Kaesong industrial zone on Thursday. That would leave another 606 South Koreans in the complex. Seoul has urged its citizens to get out.
North Korea has threatened to shut the complex, one of the impoverished North's few sources of ready cash. The industrial park, just inside the border with North Korea, has not formally stopped operations since it was inaugurated in 2000. It houses 123 companies and employs 50,000 North Koreans making cheap goods such as clothing.
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