Another ICBM launch? South Korea believes so

With the world watching what the North Koreans will do next, the South Koreans are warning that another ICBM could be launched as soon as Saturday. With the situation calling for emergency meetings and desperate outlooks on what can be done to end the crisis, the North Koreans are getting closer to fulfilling their nuclear arsenal.

“The situation is very grave,” warned South Korean Prime Minister, Lee nak-yon. With the eyes of the world watching the Hermit Kingdom closely, and Kim Jung Un keeping quiet about the next move, experts in South Korea believe yet another intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) will be launched on September 9th.

Earlier in the year the Americans made the defense system THAAD to rollout. It has been a highly controversial system in South Korea and with it’s neighbors. The system had caused protests in South Korea on Thursday as final parts arrived at a base in South Korea. A huge police presence was in the area, but it still did not stop fearful South Koreans protesting and believing that war is very imminent.

The difference with this ICBM that could be launched from previous ones is that it could be launched at an ordinary angle, giving away little information as to where it could land. So far two THAAD launchers have been operational since May.

On Thursday, South Korean president, Moon Jae-in, met with Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe in Vladivostok, Russia, where both were attending the Eastern Economic Forum which was hosted by Russian president Vladimir Putin. Later on that day, Abe met Putin to discuss the crisis in more detail.

Both South Korean and Japanese leaders believe increasing sanctions will be a better alternative rather than to seek talks and dialogues with the North Koreans. Both said in a statement that now is the time. They also both believe that the Russian and Chinese governments involvement are crucial to the crisis.

With the tensions escalating, rifts between South Korea and China have also been created. Seoul has stated that China has posed “unofficial” sanctions in the country, while tourists groups in China have been told to boycott South Korea. The Chinese have warned that further deployment to the THAAD system can only bring on more concerning issues to the Korean Peninsula. The Russians are in agreement.

So far, President Moon’s actions have been criticized and have been said to be worsening the relations with Seoul and Washington. In his election campaign earlier in the year, Moon was skeptic on THAAD, and believed talk was the answer to resolve the North Korean crisis. Now, however, his actions have spoken differently to the Korean people as well as it’s neighbors, causing several political rifts.

Earlier in the week, US president Donald Trump, criticized Moon for looking into an “appeasement” route with Pyongyang, while Moon criticized Trump’s “fire and fury” comment in August and stated that such comments should be met with the agreement of South Korea.