US President Donald Trump has used his speech in South Korea to warn the North that its weapons program was putting it in "grave danger." Trump was earlier forced to cancel plans to visit the DMZ due to adverse weather.
Image: Reuters/L.Jin-man
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US President Donald Trump on Wednesday issued a stern warning to the North Korean regime, saying that the US would not seek confrontation but would not run away from it either.
"Today, I hope I speak not only for our countries, but for all civilized nations, when I say to the North: 'Do not underestimate us,'" he said. "And do not try us. We will defend our common security, our shared prosperity, and our sacred liberty."
Speaking before lawmakers at South Korea's National Assembly, Trump called on all nations to come together to isolate the North Korean regime under Kim Jong Un and "deny it any form of support, supply, or acceptance."
A change in tone?
Trump's remarks come on the back of a summer of soaring tensions between the US and North Korea. The North's decision to carry out a series of ballistic missile tests despite international condemnation led Trump to respond with stinging remarks directed at the Kim regime, as well as threats of "fire and fury."
On Wednesday, however, the president adopted an altogether more thoughtful tone in his address before the National Assembly in Seoul. "Despite every crime you have committed against god and man," Trump said, "we will offer a path towards a much better future."
But that future would require the North to disarm itself of its nuclear arsenal, something the regime has repeatedly rejected.
As he wrapped up his two-day tour of South Korea, Trump turned the focus to his next target, Beijing. He singled out China and Russia to clamp down on trade with North Korea and fully enact sanctions.
"To those nations that choose to ignore this threat or, worse still, to enable it, the weight of this crisis is on your conscience," he said before his flight to China.
He will meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping in Beijing and with Russian President Vladimir Putin later on in Vietnam as part of his 11-day tour of Asia.
ICBM threat and North Korea's overall military strength
For years, the international community downplayed the threat of North Korea's military power. With the test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, it is clear that Pyongyang's military capabilities are growing.
Image: Gettty Images/AFP/E. Jones
Major achievement
In early June 2017, North Korea test-launched an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) for the first time. Testing an ICBM marked a major military achievement for Pyongyang and a serious escalation of tensions with the United States and its allies in the region, particularly South Korea and Japan.
Image: Reuters/KCNA
Trouble with warheads
At the time, defense experts said the ICBM could reach as far as the US states of Alaska and Hawaii. However, it was unclear if North Korea can field an ICBM capable of carrying a nuclear warhead on its cone that could survive reentry into the Earth's atmosphere. North Korean state media claimed the ICBM was capable of carrying a "large, heavy nuclear warhead" to any part of the United States.
Image: Reuters/KCNA
Pyongyang's nuclear tests - six times and counting
The ICBM is believed to be a step forward in the North's nuclear program. Despite pressure from the international community, Pyongyang has made no secret of its nuclear ambitions. Alongside its ritual ballistic missile tests, North Korea has conducted nuclear tests on at least six occasions, including one in September 2017.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/KCNA
US running out of patience?
Responding to the first ICBM test with a show of force, the US and South Korean troops on conducted "deep strike" precision missile drills using Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) and the Republic of Korea's Hyunmoo Missile II. In April, the US sent its Carl Vinson aircraft carrier towards the Korean Peninsula, saying it was taking prudent measures against the North.
Image: picture-alliance/Zumapress/M. Brown
Testing the boundaries
Ignoring international condemnation, Pyongyang test-launched another rocket on July 28, 2017, just weeks after its first ICBM test. In both of the tests, North Korea used Hwasong-14 missile, but the second one reached a higher altitude and traveled a larger distance than the first one, according to the state media.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/KCNA
Whole of US within range?
Pyongyang conducted its third test November 29, using a newly developed Hwasong-15 missile. US, Japanese and South Korean officials said it rose to about 4,500 km (2,800 miles) and flew 960 kilometers (600 miles) over about 50 minutes before landing in Japan's exclusive economic zone off the country's coast.
Image: picture-alliance/MAXPPP
One of the world's largest militaries
Apart from a developing missile and nuclear program, North Korea has a powerful army with 700,000 active troops and another 4.5 million in the reserves. It can call upon almost a quarter of its population to serve in the army at any given time. The North's bloated army is believed to outnumber its southern neighbor's by two-to-one.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/E. Jones
Vast capabilities
According to the 2017 Global Firepower Index, the North has, as part of a far-reaching arsenal, 458 fighter aircraft, 5,025 combat tanks, 76 submarines, and 5,200,000 total military personnel. The picture above from 2013 shows leader Kim Jong Un ordering strategic rocket forces to be on standby to strike US and South Korean targets at any time.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
Enemies all around
Alongside the United States, Pyongyang views its neighbors South Korea and Japan as its two other main enemies. North Korea has used US military exercises in the region as means of galvanizing its people, claiming that the exercises are dress rehearsals for an impending invasion.
Image: Reuters/K. Hong-Ji
Huge, colorful demonstrations of military might
Every year, hundreds of thousands of soldiers and citizens roll through the streets of the capital Pyongyang to take part in the North's military parades. Preparations for the rallies often begin months in advance, and the parades usually mark important anniversaries linked with the Communist Party or Kim Jong Un's family.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/KCNA
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Trump calls off DMZ visit
The president's speech came just hours after he was forced to abandon plans to visit the Korean demilitarized zone that separates the North and South. The presidential Marine One helicopter departed from Seoul at daybreak and flew to within five minutes of the DMZ, before it was forced to turn back due to heavy fog.
Administration officials had initially said that the president would not be visiting the DMZ as there was not enough time in his schedule. However, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders admitted that the trip had indeed been planned months ahead and was kept secret for security purposes.
"I think he's pretty frustrated," she told reporters. "It was obviously something he wanted to do."
Trips by American presidents to the DMZ have become common during US state visits to South Korea. All presidents since Ronald Reagan, bar George H.W. Bush, have made the trip to peer upon the barren north through a pair of binoculars and reaffirm the US' longstanding commitment to the South.
Trump and First Lady Melania Trump instead paid their respects at Seoul National Cemetery, which is reserved for Korean soldiers who lost their lives in the Korean independence war, Korean War and Vietnam War.
