Mike Pence fires a fresh warning to North Korea

Mike Pence fires a fresh warning to North Korea

Visiting Japan as part of trip to reassure allies, US vice president promises 'overwhelming and effective response'.

The US will counter any North Korean attack with an "overwhelming and effective" response, Vice President Mike Pence has said.

He sounded the warning on Wednesday from the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, docked in Yokosuka, Japan.

Pence is in the region to reassure US allies unnerved by North Korea's ongoing missile program, and its apparent readiness to carry out another banned nuclear test in its quest to develop an atomic weapon that can hit the US mainland.

Pence, whose Asia visit started in South Korea on Sunday, just hours after the reportedly failed launch by North Korea of what analysts said could have been a new missile, said the threat from North Korea was growing.

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"North Korea is the most dangerous and urgent threat to peace and security in the Asia-Pacific," he told the audience of American and Japanese military personnel.

He pledged to "defeat any attack and meet any use of conventional or nuclear weapons with an overwhelming and effective American response".

Pence's comments come after a warning by a senior North Korean official that his government plans weekly tests and an "all-out war" if the US takes any action against it, and has no intention of going slow on its missile program.

In an exclusive interview to Al Jazeera on Monday, Sin Hong-chol, North Korea's deputy foreign minister, said: "The time of dictating orders by brandishing the US military might has gone.

"If those businessmen in power in the US thought of intimidating us by any military or sanction threats - as the [Barack] Obama administration used to do and failed - they will soon find out such threats are useless.

"If we notice any sign of assault on our sovereignty, our army will launch merciless military strikes against the US aggressors, wherever they may exist, from the remote US lands to the American military bases on the Korean Peninsula, such as those of Japan and elsewhere."

That kind of rhetoric has unnerved allies in Japan and South Korea. Seoul, the South Korean capital, is within easy range of North Korean long-range artillery.

Al Jazeera's Wayne Hay, reporting from Tokyo, said North Korea is dominating Pence's visit in Japan, although he is also holding economic and trade talks with Japanese officials.

"I think this is really part of an assurance campaign from Mike Pence," he said, "because there was a lot of concern - not just in Japan but around the Asia-Pacific region - when Donald Trump won the election in the United States that his 'America First' policy would undo a lot of the work done by his predecessor Barack Obama and his 'pivot to Asia'.

"This visit is really about giving some assurances to governments and also to those in the business world, that the United States is not going to turn its back on this region, it's not going to turn its back on Japan - either economically or militarily."

Aircraft carrier confusion

The diplomatic developments come amid much confusion surrounding the path of the USS Carl Vinson.

The US navy has said another aircraft carrier intended as a show of force to North Korea will arrive in the Sea of Japan next week.

The navy had said on April 8 that it was directing a naval strike group headed by the Vinson to "sail north," as a "prudent measure" to deter North Korea.

And on April 11, Jim Mattis, the Pentagon chief,  said the Vinson was "on her way up" to the peninsula.

The next day President Donald Trump said: "We are sending an armada. Very powerful."

But at the time of the announcements, the ships had temporarily headed in the opposite direction, to the Indian Ocean, for military exercises with Australia.

Al Jazeera's Craig Leeson, reporting from Seoul on Wednesday, said the fleet was thousands of miles away from the Korean Peninsula during North Korea's recent missile test and is still several days' travel from there.

"It certainly brings into question the US bluff about its ability to strike North Korea at that particular time, and I am sure its allies are wondering now about the credibility of the US saying that it has South Korea's back 100 percent," he said.

In his remarks in Japan on Wednesday, Pence also issued a warning to China regarding the South China Sea, where it has built reefs and islets into fortified islands capable of hosting military assets to bolster its claim to sovereignty over the sea.

"Our treaty [with Japan] covers all the territory administered by Japan, including the Senkaku Islands," he said, referring to an archipelago in the East China Sea that is controlled by Japan but claimed by China.

Freedom of navigation

Pence said the US would defend the right to freedom of navigation through the waterway, one of the most important shipping channels on the planet.

He also said more of the US' most advanced military assets would be deployed to the Asia-Pacific.

Approximately 47,000 US troops are stationed in Japan and a further 28,000 in South Korea.

Details:

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/04/mike-pence-fires-fresh-warning-north-korea-170419051133721.html

Pence: US era of strategic patience with North Korea over

Update News- Pence: US era of strategic patience with North Korea over

1 hour ago, Asia 

US Vice-President Mike Pence has said his country's "era of strategic patience" with North Korea is over.

Mr Pence made the remarks at the demilitarised zone (DMZ), the area dividing the two Koreas, during a visit to South Korea to reaffirm ties.

His visit comes amid escalated tensions on the peninsula, with heated rhetoric from both North Korea and the US.

He arrived in Seoul on Sunday hours after North Korea carried out a failed missile launch.

On Monday, the US and South Korea launched a joint air force military exercise to ensure readiness against North Korea, according to South Korean media.

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Mr Pence, whose father served in the Korean War, was speaking on Monday at the truce village of Panmunjom, where the war's armistice was signed.

He told reporters: "There was a period of strategic patience, but the era of strategic patience is over."

The US wants to achieve security on the peninsula "through peaceable means, through negotiations", he said, "but all options are on the table".

Mr Pence also reiterated the US commitment to South Korea, saying it was an "iron-clad alliance", and that North Korea "should not mistake the resolve" of the US to stand with its allies.

Earlier in the day he visited Camp Bonifas, a United Nations military compound near the DMZ, and on Sunday he met with US military families stationed in South Korea.

Mike Pence, who is set to meet the acting president of South Korea later, will visit four nations on his 10-day Asia tour.

He has denounced North Korea's ballistic missile test on Sunday as a "provocation".

Also on Sunday, Lt Gen HR McMaster, the US top security adviser, said his country was working on a "range of options" with China, the first confirmation the two countries were co-operating to find a solution to the North Korean issue.

China, historically Pyongyang's sole major ally, has reiterated its call for North Korea to stop all tests, and has also called for a peaceful solution.

US President Donald Trump, who stated last week that the US and its allies may "deal with" Pyongyang if China did not, said on Sunday that Beijing was "working with us on the North Korean problem".

Besides Sunday's launch, North Korea has held a series of large-scale events in the past week including a massive celebration and military parade on Saturday.

It has denounced the US deployment of an aircraft carrier group to the region, saying it would respond by "force of arms" to "reckless moves".

Observers have said North Korea may conduct a sixth nuclear test soon, with activity reported at nuclear facilities, according to the website 38 North.

Meanwhile about 1,000 US airmen and fighter jets are taking part in a combat training exercise in South Korea, reported Yonhap news agency. South Korea has sent about 500 personnel and planes. The Max Thunder exercise will last for two weeks.

Details:
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-39618573

Pence to Troops: North Korea Provocation Shows Risk

Last News: Pence to Troops: North Korea Provocation Shows Risk

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence burns incense in front of his wife Karen Pence, right, at the Seoul 
National Cemetery in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, April 16, 2017. 

North Korea 'provocation' shows the risk to the military.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said Sunday that North Korea's "provocation" underscored the risks faced by American and South Korean service members, hours after the North conducted a failed missile launch shortly before Pence's arrival.

Pence landed in South Korea at the start of a 10-day trip to Asia and was quickly confronted with the stakes facing the United States as Pyongyang seeks to flex its muscles around the birth anniversary of the country's late founder and advance the regime's nuclear and missile capabilities.

While Pence was aboard Air Force Two flying over the Bering Sea, a North Korean missile exploded during launch on Sunday, U.S. and South Korean officials said, representing a high-profile failure that came as a powerful U.S. aircraft supercarrier approaches the Korean Peninsula.

After arriving in Seoul, the vice president placed a wreath at Seoul National Cemetery and then worshipped with military personnel at an Easter church service at the U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan. During a fellowship meal after the services, he said the tensions on the Korean peninsula had put into sharp focus the importance of the joint U.S.-South Korean mission.

"This morning's provocation from the North is just the latest reminder of the risks each one of you face every day in the defense of the freedom of the people of South Korea and the defense of America in this part of the world," said Pence, who was introduced by Army Gen. Vincent Brooks, commander of U.S. Forces Korea. "Your willingness to step forward, to serve, to stand firm without fear, inspires the nation and inspires the world."

Pence told the military members that he had spoken twice with President Donald Trump during the day.

Pence said that under Trump's leadership, "our resolve has never been stronger, our commitment to this historic alliance with the courageous people of South Korea has never been stronger and with your help and God's help, freedom will ever prevail on this peninsula."

Trump has suggested that the U.S. will take a tougher stance against North Korea, telling reporters last week: "North Korea is a problem. The problem will be taken care of." He has repeatedly said if China, North Korea's dominant trading partner, is unwilling to do more to pressure the North, the U.S. might take the matter into its own hands.

Along with the deployment of the Naval aircraft carrier and other vessels into waters off the Korean Peninsula, thousands of U.S. and South Korean troops, tanks and other weaponry were also deployed last month in their biggest-ever joint military exercises. That led North Korea to issue routine threats of attacks on its rivals if they show signs of aggression.

A White House foreign policy adviser told reporters aboard Air Force Two that the type of missile that North Korea tried to fire on Sunday was medium-range, and that it exploded about 4 to 5 seconds after it was launched.

According to the adviser, the test had been expected and the U.S. had good intelligence both before and after the launch. The adviser, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the administration's initial understanding of the launch, said there was no expected response from the Trump administration because there was no need for the U.S. to reinforce the failure.

The official said that had it been a nuclear test, "other actions would have been taken by the U.S."

North Korea has conducted five nuclear tests, including two last year. Recent satellite imagery suggests the country could conduct another underground nuclear test at any time.

Despite North Korea's provocations, U.S. officials have said that the U.S. doesn't intend to use military force against North Korea in response to either a nuclear test or a missile launch.

After a two-month policy review, officials settled on a policy dubbed "maximum pressure and engagement," U.S. officials said Friday. The administration's immediate emphasis, the officials said, will be on increasing pressure on Pyongyang with the help of Beijing.

The officials weren't authorized to speak publicly on the results of the policy review and requested anonymity.

Pence will be tasked with explaining the policy in meetings with leaders in South Korea and Japan at the start of his trip, which will also include stops in Indonesia and Australia. He will also aim to reassure allies in South Korea and Japan that the U.S. will take appropriate steps to defend them against North Korean aggression.

Pence's first trip to South Korea carries personal meaning as well. He noted to the soldiers that his late father, Edward, served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War and was awarded the Bronze Star on April 15, 1953 — 64 years to the day of the vice president's departure for South Korea. Pence displays in his office his father's Bronze Star and a photograph of his father receiving the honor.

News Collect by:

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/pence-lands-south-korea-failed-launch-north-46825425

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