South Korea, Japan warn North Korea of strong response if Guam attacked

Japan and South Korea issued stark warnings to North Korea on Thursday after Pyongyang’s announced it would have a plan to attack the U.S. territory of Guam in place by mid-August. 

South Korea said its northern counterpart would face “a strong response” if it decided to strike Guam, while Japan Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said his country would be acting within international law to to intercept a missile headed for Guam, according to Bloomberg.

{mosads}”If North Korea commits provocations despite our stern warning, it will face a strong response from South Korea’s military and the U.S.-South Korea alliance,” a spokesman at South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said. 

South Korea’s National Security Council said it would still be open to having a dialogue with the North. 

The latest warnings from the two U.S. allies come as rhetoric intensifies between North Korea and the U.S. 

After a news report that Pyongyang had the ability to fit a nuclear warhead onto a missile, President Trump warned North Korean that if it continued with its threats, “they will be met with fire, fury and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before.”

Pyongyang dismissed Trump’s warning as “load of nonsense,” according to The Associated Press.