Stephen Lendman

Likely in response to provocative joint US/South Korean military exercises, continuing through August 31, the DPRK test-fired three short-range missiles - the first tests in nearly a month.

Two reportedly flew about 250 km before splashing down in the Sea of Japan harmlessly at about 6:49 AM local time Saturday.

According to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency, the third exploded shortly after launch. A White House statement said Trump was “briefed and we are monitoring the situation.”

None of the missiles threatened another nation. South Korea’s Defense Ministry said it’s “keeping a tight surveillance over the North to cope with further provocations.”

Japan “confirmed that no ballistic missiles have fallen onto our country’s territory or” exclusive economic zone - “no direct impact on (the) country’s security.”

Last week in Tokyo, Joint Chiefs Chairman General Joseph Dunford warned North Korea “that an attack on Japan is an attack on” America.

On Friday, a North Korean KCNA news agency said “(t)he reality vividly shows that the US ambition for stifling the DPRK remains unchanged no matter how much water may flow under the bridge and the puppet group’s ambition for invading the north remains unchanged.”

North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs are solely for defense. It genuinely fears possible US aggression, these weapons a strong deterrent to prevent it.

They’re not to launch a preemptive attack against any country, something the DPRK never did throughout its post-WW II history.

Self-defense is a universally recognized right. So is national sovereignty, international law affirming the right of all nations to control their domestic affairs - free from interference by foreign powers, the hostile way America operates worldwide.

Without a strong deterrent, North Korea would be more vulnerable than otherwise to US hostilities at a time and way of its choosing.

America wants all sovereign independent governments replaced by regimes it controls, color revolutions and aggressive wars its strategies of choice.

North Korea can’t match Washington’s military might. It can retaliate strongly if attacked, causing large-scale casualties and destruction against hostile neighboring states and regional US forces.

Maybe it’s enough to give the Trump administration pause about waging war, potentially catastrophic if launched.

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

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