DefenceTalkA top Republican lawmaker warned Sunday that the United States moves closer to preemptive war with North Korea every time Pyongyang carries out a missile or nuclear test. North Korea’s test launch this week of an intercontinental ballistic missile has sent tensions soaring once again on the Korean peninsula, after a two month lull. “If […]https://www.defencetalk.com/likelihood-of-preemptive-war-with-north-korea-grows-warns-us-lawmaker-70945/

DefenceTalkNorth Korea said Wednesday it had achieved its goal of becoming a nuclear state after successfully testing a new intercontinental ballistic missile that put the “whole mainland of the US” within its range. After watching the launch of the Hwasong-15, the North’s leader Kim Jong-Un “declared with pride that now we have finally realised the […]https://www.defencetalk.com/north-korea-says-it-is-nuclear-state-with-us-in-missile-strike-range-70877/

DefenceTalkUN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday strongly condemned North Korea’s latest missile test and urged Pyongyang to “desist taking any further destabilising steps”. “This is a clear violation of Security Council resolutions and shows complete disregard for the united view of the international community,” Guterres said in a statement. North Korea earlier fired an intercontinental […]https://www.defencetalk.com/un-chief-strongly-condemns-north-korea-missile-launch-70870/

DefenceTalkChina’s next-generation intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) – the Dongfeng-41 – could be in the People Liberation Army’s (PLA) lineup as early as the first half of 2018. Media reports say that the Dongfeng-41 ICBM recently underwent another test, the eighth since it was first announced in 2012. The missile must have matured considerably if it […]https://www.defencetalk.com/china-says-dongfeng-41-missile-to-enter-service-in-months-70838/

DefenceTalkNorth Korea warned at the United Nations Monday, November 13, that the deployment of 3 US aircraft carriers in joint navy drills with South Korea was fueling tensions that could lead to nuclear war. North Korea’s Ambassador Ja Song Nam said in a letter to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres that this was “the worst ever […]https://www.defencetalk.com/north-korea-at-un-warns-u-s-aircraft-carriers-are-fueling-tensions-70786/

DefenceTalkThree US aircraft carriers will stage joint drills in the western Pacific for the first time in a decade, the US Navy said Thursday, as tensions in the region over North Korea reach fever pitch. The USS Ronald Reagan, USS Nimitz and USS Theodore Roosevelt will conduct “coordinated operations in international waters”, the navy said, […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-aircraft-carriers-in-rare-pacific-operation-amid-north-korea-tensions-70765/

DefenceTalkA powerful US missile system installed in South Korea to defend it from the nuclear-armed North made international headlines this year. But the stars of a film about the project are the grandmothers who found themselves living next to some of the world’s most advanced weapons. The South Korean documentary “Soseongri” shows how the deployment […]https://www.defencetalk.com/echoes-of-war-as-south-korean-grannies-on-protest-front-lines-70685/

DefenceTalkPentagon chief Jim Mattis tried to clear up doubts about the US administration’s North Korea strategy Tuesday, backing Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s effort to find a diplomatic solution to the nuclear stand-off. Defense Secretary Mattis was speaking two days after President Donald Trump appeared to undermine his top diplomat by saying Tillerson was “wasting […]https://www.defencetalk.com/pentagon-chief-says-us-admin-backs-tillersons-north-korea-effort-70582/

DefenceTalkNorth Korea’s nuclear antics have rattled its alliance with China to the point that Beijing is allowing the previously unthinkable to be discussed: Is it time to prepare for the renegade regime’s collapse? While China’s official goal is to bring Washington and Pyongyang to the negotiating table, it is also permitting once taboo debate on […]https://www.defencetalk.com/thinking-the-unthinkable-in-china-abandoning-north-korea-70578/

DefenceTalkDonald Trump’s administration ramped up the pressure on North Korea on Sunday (Sep 17) ahead of a week of high-stakes diplomacy at the United Nations, warning Pyongyang will be “destroyed” if it refuses to end its “reckless” nuclear and ballistic missile drive. With US officials and their allies scrambling to find ways to contain an […]https://www.defencetalk.com/us-warns-north-korea-will-be-destroyed-if-threats-continue-70472/