In this photo provided by Eighth U.S. Army, a U.S. MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile is fired into the east sea during the combined military exercise against North Korea at an undisclosed location in South Korea, Wednesday, July 5, 2017. North Korea delighted in the international furor created by its first launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile, vowing Wednesday to never give up its missiles or nuclear weapons and to keep sending Washington more “gift packages” of weapons tests. U.S. and South Korean forces, in response, engineered what was meant as a show of force for Pyongyang, with soldiers from the allied nations firing “deep strike” precision missiles into South Korean territorial waters. The missile firings Tuesday demonstrated U.S.-South Korean solidarity, the U.S. Eighth Army said in a statement.
AP
WASHINGTON (AP) — Coverage of the U.S. response to North Korea’s latest missile launch (all times local):
President Donald Trump, with first lady Melania Trump, sings during the national anthem from the Truman Balcony at the Fourth of July picnic for military families on the South Lawn of the White House on Tuesday, July 4, 2017, in Washington.
AP
Updated 8:05 a.m.: Following North Korea’s missile launch, President Donald Trump is expressing frustration with China over its expanding trade with North Korea.
Trump had expressed optimism after his first meeting with China’s president that the two would work together to curb North Korea’s nuclear pursuits. But North Korea on Tuesday launched what U.S. and South Korean officials confirm was an intercontinental ballistic missile.
The president tweeted Wednesday, “Trade between China and North Korea grew almost 40% in the first quarter. So much for China working with us – but we had to give it a try!”
North Korea’s latest missile launch Tuesday, confirmed by U.S. and South Korean officials as an intercontinental ballistic missile, have prompted calls for stronger measures against Pyongyang.
As he departed for Poland Wednesday, Trump added that he thinks “we’re going to do very well” in responding to North Korea’s latest threat.
— The Associated Press
People react as they watch the news that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un signed the order to carry out the test-fire of intercontinental ballistic rocket near the Pyongyang railway station in Pyongyang, North Korea on Tuesday, July 4, 2017. North Korea claimed to have tested its first intercontinental ballistic missile in a launch Tuesday, a potential game-changing development in its push to militarily challenge Washington — but a declaration that conflicts with earlier South Korean and U.S. assessments that it had an intermediate range.
AP
Updated 8 a.m.: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed Wednesday his nation will “demonstrate its mettle to the U.S.” and never put its weapons programs up for negotiations, a day after successfully testing its first intercontinental ballistic missile.
The hard line suggests that North Korea will conduct more weapons tests until it perfects nuclear-armed missiles capable of striking anywhere in the United States. Analysts say Kim’s government believes nuclear weapons are key to its own survival and could be used to wrest concessions from the United States.
— The Associated Press
President Donald Trump stops briefly in front of reporters as he and first lady Melania Trump walk to Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Wednesday, July 5, 2017. The Trumps are heading to Poland and then Germany for the G20.
AP
Updated 3:37 a.m.: Tensions with North Korea are on the rise. This, after the United States concluded that North Korea’s latest missile launch was indeed an intercontinental ballistic missile, the kind capable of reaching the U.S.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called the development a “new escalation of the threat” to the U.S. The United Nations Security Council is to hold an emergency session on Wednesday afternoon.
Previously, North Korea had demonstrated missiles of short and medium range but never one able to get to the United States.
In a show of force directly responding to North Korea’s provocation, U.S. and South Korean soldiers fired “deep strike” missiles into South Korean territorial waters on Tuesday.
U.S. military officials say that exercise was a show of U.S.-South Korean solidarity.
— The Associated Press
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