President Trump said Wednesday that North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un made the right decision when he scrapped a plan to fire missiles toward Guam, the U.S. island territory in the Pacific Ocean that is home to a major military base.
“Kim Jong Un of North Korea made a very wise and well reasoned decision. The alternative would have been both catastrophic and unacceptable!” Trump tweeted Wednesday morning.
Kim Jong Un of North Korea made a very wise and well reasoned decision. The alternative would have been both catastrophic and unacceptable!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 16, 2017
North Korea was reported Thursday to have outlined a plan to simultaneously launch four ballistic missiles toward Guam. Kim appeared to be considering the plan, but on Monday night, he indicated his country was not prepared to carry it out.
Last week, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson assured Guam’s 7,000 U.S. military personnel and 160,000 residents there is no real threat from North Korea despite its behavior.
“Americans should sleep well at night,” Tillerson told reporters while traveling to Guam on Wednesday. “Nothing that I have seen and nothing that I know of would indicate that the situation has dramatically changed in the last 24 hours.”
Trump had warned North Korea it would face “fire and fury” if it prompted the U.S. to respond with military action.
“I think what the president was doing is sending a strong message to North Korea in language that Kim Jong Un would understand, because he doesn’t seem to understand diplomatic language,” Tillerson said last Wednesday. “I think it was important that he deliver that message to avoid any miscalculation on their part.”
Government officials in Pyongyang were recently dealt new sanctions over the weekend by the U.N. Security Council’s 15-member nations.