North Korea moves missile to coast as nuclear crisis escalates

[NBCNews]

In response to North Korea's announcement that they will be deploying "small, light" nuclear strikes, the Pentagon has announced it is sending an anti-ballistic missile system to Guam. NBC's Richard Engel reports.By Alastair Jamieson, Jim Miklaszewski and Courtney Kube, NBC NewsNorth Korea has moved a missile with "considerable range" to its east coast, South Korea said Thursday as Russia warned that Pyongyang's decision to pursue a nuclear program “radically complicates” the prospect of resuming international talks.

South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin told lawmakers the moved missile has "considerable range" but not enough to hit the U.S. mainland, according to The Associated Press.

It came hours after North Korea's military warned that it has been authorized to  attack the U.S. using "smaller, lighter and diversified" nuclear weapons - the latest in a string of war cries against America in recent weeks.

"The moment of explosion is approaching fast,” the military statement said.

Russia joined the ranks of countries voicing concern at the escalating crisis on the Korea peninsula, saying the North's disregard for U.N. restrictions was unacceptable.

The U.S. is sending ab advanced anti-ballistic missile system will be sent to Guam to protect American military sites, officials said Wednesday. The Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system is expected to arrive at the U.S. territory in the Pacific within two weeks.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the rogue state’s provocations are "a real and clear danger and threat" to U.S. interests and Washington is taking them seriously.U.S. officials tell NBC News they believe North Korea does have the capability to put a nuclear weapon on a missile and that they have missile deliverable nukes. Those missiles, however, cannot go more than 1000 miles. NBC's Richard Engel reports. "We are doing everything we can ... to defuse that situation on the peninsula," Hagel said after a speech Wednesday at the National Defense University at Fort McNair in Washington, D.C.

"I hope the North will ratchet this very dangerous rhetoric down," he said, adding that there is a pathway to peace but only if Pyongyang decides to be "a responsible member of the world community."

North Korea escalated its warlike rhetoric earlier Thursday, warning that its military is authorized to wage "cutting-edge smaller, lighter and diversified" nuclear strikes to protect against the United States.

"The moment of explosion is approaching fast. No one can say a war will break out in Korea or not and whether it will break out today or tomorrow," read the statement of an unnamed military spokesman.

The statement, which was carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), informs the White House and the Pentagon that "the merciless operation of its revolutionary armed forces in this regard has been finally examined and ratified."

It also made reference to U.S. jet sorties over the Korean Peninsula, which Pentagon officials said are routine joint military drills with South Korea.If North Korea were to employ nuclear weapons, it would impact U.S. troops and pressure Japan and South Korea to also consider obtaining nuclear weapons – something that could lead to an all-out arms race.  NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports. "The U.S. high-handed hostile policy toward the DPRK aimed to encroach upon its sovereignty and the dignity of its supreme leadership and bring down its social system is being implemented through actual military actions without hesitation," the North’s statement read.

Meanwhile, a former UN official who visited North Korea last year reported that officials there said they could re-start the Yongbyon reactor in three months.

That is a lot shorter than many U.S. nuclear experts believe a re-start would take.

U.S. officials told NBC News that no matter what the timeline is, they don't believe the operation would be a huge engineering challenge. A re-start would, however, be significant, as it would give North Korea the capability to make weapons-grade plutonium again. The reactor was shut down in 2007.

"North Korea's assertion that it intends to bring Yongbyon back on line can't be easily written off as an insurmountable hurdle," one U.S. official said.

NBC News' Marc Smith, Andrea Mitchell and Becky Bratu contributed to this report.

Related:

What happens if North Korea gets out of hand? Here are some scenarios

NBC News' Jim Maceda responds to your questions on North Korea tensions

Full North Korea coverage from NBC News

 

This story was originally published on Thu Apr 4, 2013 4:17 AM EDT

NBC News

[Shola Sholaz]

North Korea really need to come back to the peaceful country they've always been. I wouldn't have known they even existed if not for their football team.