Trump, Xi agree North Korea should stop its provocative behavior

After President Trump threatened to bring "fire and fury" down on North Korea, Pyongyang said Wednesday that it is "carefully examining the operational plan for making an enveloping fire at the areas around Guam".

Cheong Wa Dae officials brushed off the latest threats from the North to turn South Korea into a sea of fire.

The already high tensions on the Korean Peninsula spiked further this week as the North threatened to fire missiles into waters around Guam, a key strategic point for the US military where some of its strategic weapons are deployed, including B-1B and B-52 strategic bombers and the THAAD missile defense system.

US nuclear expert Siegfried Hecker, who has repeatedly visited North Korea's nuclear facilities, said he doesn't think North Korea now has weapons systems for "enveloping fire" around Guam, as it threatened.

In the case of an actual attack, people should "find the nearest building, preferably built of brick of concrete, and go inside to avoid any radioactive material outside", the fact sheet says.

Guam is home to about 163,000 people and a U.S. military base that includes a submarine squadron, an air base and a Coast Guard group. Guam's governor urged island residents to remain calm, underscoring that the island's threat level has not changed.

He said the "sensible" way to proceed is to step up worldwide pressure on the regime of Kim Jong Un through the United Nations.

North Korea accuses Washington of devising a "preventive war" and has said any plans to execute this would be met with an "all-out war, wiping out all the strongholds of enemies, including the USA mainland".

U.S. stocks fell Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump warned North Korea that any threats would be met with "fire and fury like the world has never seen".

The Nikkei slumped to its lowest close for nearly three months yesterday, leading an Asia-wide sell-off sparked by President Donald Trump's apocalyptic warning over North Korea's weapons programme. It has seen various popular movements pushing for greater self-government or even US statehood, most notably a significant but failed effort in the 1980s to make it a commonwealth on par with Puerto Rico.

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The U.S. military has said it plans to increase its presence on Guam and will move thousands of U.S. Marines now stationed in Japan to the island between 2024 and 2028.

"We are very strongly in support of the United Nations process, which has and continues to put pressure on North Korea to stop acting in an irresponsible way, and we will continue strongly to support the United Nations process which will, I hope, help to de-escalate tensions".

North Korea was reportedly mulling to send Hwasong-12 intermediate-range strategic ballistic rockets "to interdict the enemy forces on major military bases on Guam". The U.S., in turn, has heavily fortified Guam - in part to keep an eye on North Korea.

What's much less certain, however, is whether the North's missiles can inflict serious damage once they reach Guam. Tensions between Pyongyang and Washington have been escalating due to North Korea's tests of nuclear and inter-continental ballistic missile.

Despite its size, it plays an outsized role in US military strategy in the Pacific.

And on the heels of slapping fresh new sanctions on the regime, the European Union will convene an emergency meeting on Monday to further discuss the issue of North Korea's threats and the ongoing crisis.

"All the people are rising up across the country to retaliate against the USA thousands of times", the daily said.

The way to avert a war with North Korea is to have a conversation, and that's not happening, Hecker said. They threatened USA, other countries, and they threaten Guam.

A land-based variant of a submarine-launched missile now under development, North Korea first successfully flight-tested this solid-fuel midrange missile in February.