Tillerson downplays fear of war with North Korea

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Wednesday said the current U.S. strategy toward North Korea is working and he doesn’t believe the United States faces any imminent threat from the rogue nation. Earlier in the day, North Korea announced its army is carefully examining plans for a missile strike on the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam to send “a serious warning signal to the U.S.” The statement, published by the state-run KCNA news agency, said the KPA Strategic Force is studying a plan to create an enveloping fire with medium- to long-range ballistic missiles. North Korea specifically mentioned plans to target Andersen Air Force Base, one of two U.S. installations on the island. That threat came after U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the United States would respond “with fire and fury like the world has never seen” if North Korea escalates its nuclear threat. On Monday, two U.S. B-1 bombers flew from Guam over the Korean Peninsula as part of its continuous bomber presence, according to the Pacific Air Forces. North Korea condemned the flyover as a provocation: “[The United States] should immediately stop its reckless military provocation against the state of the DPRK so that the latter would not be forced to make an unavoidable military choice.”