N. Korea's Kim gets Guam plan

But talks said to be possible

This image made from video of an Aug. 14, 2017, still image broadcast in a news bulletin on Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017, by North Korea's KRT shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un receiving a briefing in Pyongyang.  (KRT via AP Video)
This image made from video of an Aug. 14, 2017, still image broadcast in a news bulletin on Tuesday, Aug. 15, 2017, by North Korea's KRT shows North Korean leader Kim Jong Un receiving a briefing in Pyongyang. (KRT via AP Video)

SEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea's military on Tuesday presented leader Kim Jong Un with plans to launch missiles into waters near Guam and "wring the windpipes of the Yankees," even as both Koreas and the United States signaled their willingness to avert a deepening crisis, with each suggesting a path toward negotiations.

The tentative interest in diplomacy follows an exchange of threats between President Donald Trump and North Korea as fears mount that Pyongyang is nearing its long-sought goal of being able to send a nuclear missile to the U.S. mainland. The threats also come as the U.S. and South Korean militaries gear up for annual exercises next week that enrage the North each year.

During an inspection of the North Korean army's forces that handle the missile program, Kim praised the military for drawing up a "close and careful plan" but also said he would watch the "foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees" a little more before deciding whether to order the missile test, the state-run Korean Central News Agency said.

Kim appeared in photos sitting at a table with a large map marked by a straight line between what appeared to be northeastern North Korea and Guam, and passing over Japan -- apparently showing the missiles' flight route.

The missile plans involving Guam, a U.S. military hub in the Pacific, were previously announced. Kim said North Korea would conduct the launches if the "Yankees persist in their extremely dangerous reckless actions on the Korean Peninsula and its vicinity," warning the United States to "think reasonably and judge properly" to avoid shaming itself, the news agency said.

The Trump administration had no immediate comments on Kim's declaration.

"We continue to be interested in trying to find a way to get to dialogue, but that's up to him," U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Tuesday in Washington.

Kim's conditional tone suggested the friction could ease if the U.S. offered a gesture that Pyongyang sees as a step back from its recent actions.

That could refer to the U.S.-South Korean military drills set to begin Monday, which the North claims are rehearsals for invasion. It also could mean the B-1B bombers that the U.S. occasionally flies over the Korean Peninsula as a show of force.

Also Tuesday, South Korean President Moon Jae-in, a liberal who favors diplomacy, urged North Korea to stop provocations and to commit to talks over its nuclear weapons program.

Moon, in a televised speech on the anniversary of World War II's end and the Korean Peninsula's liberation from Japanese colonial rule, said Seoul and Washington agree that the nuclear standoff should "absolutely be solved peacefully." He said no U.S. military action on the Korean Peninsula could be taken without his government's consent.

Moon said the North could spur talks by stopping nuclear and missile tests.

"Our government will put everything on the line to prevent another war on the Korean Peninsula," Moon said. "Regardless of whatever twist and turns we could experience, the North Korean nuclear program should absolutely be solved peacefully, and the [South Korean] government and the U.S. government don't have a different position on this."

The statement came after U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis warned Monday in Washington that it would be "game on" for war if North Korea fired missiles that hit the U.S. or its territories, including the Pacific island of Guam.

The chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Corps Gen. Joseph Dunford, met Monday with senior South Korean military and political officials and the media, seeking to ease anxiety while showing his willingness to back Trump's warnings if need be. The U.S. wants to peacefully resolve tensions with North Korea, Dunford said, but Washington also is ready to use the "full range" of its military capabilities.

On Tuesday, Dunford met in Beijing with his Chinese counterpart, Gen. Fang Fenghui, discussing North Korea, as well as Taiwan and the South China Sea. It was not clear what message Dunford delivered, or whether the generals discussed China's proposal that North Korea freeze its nuclear testing in exchange for the U.S. cutting back sharply on its military exercises with South Korea.

Dunford's trip to Japan and China followed a week in which Trump declared the U.S. military "locked and loaded" and said he was ready to unleash "fire and fury" if North Korea continued to threaten the United States.

In a statement after meeting with Dunford, Fang struck a conciliatory tone on the relationship between the U.S. and China but made no mention of North Korea. "Cooperation is the only right choice between China and the U.S.," Fang said.

Also Tuesday, Trump held a 30-minute call with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe about the tensions in the region.

In comments to reporters Tuesday morning Japan time, Abe said the two leaders "frankly exchanged opinions on the current North Korean situation," saying he appreciated Trump's "commitment to the safety of its allies."

North Korea's military said last week that it would finalize the plan to fire four ballistic missiles near Guam, which is about 2,000 miles from Pyongyang. It would be a test of the Hwasong-12, a new missile the country flight-tested for the first time in May. The liquid-fuel missile is designed to be fired from road-mobile launchers and has been described by North Korea as built for attacking Alaska and Hawaii.

The North followed the May launch with two flight tests of its Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile last month. Analysts said a wide area of the continental United States, including Los Angeles and Chicago, could be within reach of those missiles once they're perfected.

The North's state-run news agency said Kim ordered his military to be prepared to launch the missiles toward Guam at any time. Kim said that if the "planned fire of power demonstration" is carried out because of U.S. recklessness, it will be "the most delightful historic moment when the Hwasong artillerymen will wring the windpipes of the Yankees and point daggers at their necks."

Even with North Korea and the Trump administration exchanging tough talk, back-channel diplomatic contacts between the countries have continued, The Associated Press reported Friday. People familiar with the contacts who spoke on condition of anonymity said discussions have addressed deteriorating relations and three Americans detained in North Korea.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman for the North on Tuesday denied the country is currently discussing the detainees with Washington.

North Korea also has lamented new United Nations sanctions over its nuclear and missile development.

Information for this article was contributed by Foster Klug, Kim Tong-Hyung, Hyung-jin Kim, Matthew Lee and Robert Burns of The Associated Press; by Choe Sang-Hun, Motoko Rich, Jane Perlez, Chris Buckley and Adam Wu of The New York Times; and by Hooyeon Kim, David Tweed, Narae Kim, Tony Capaccio, Huang Zhe and Nick Wadhams of Bloomberg News.

A Section on 08/16/2017

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