"I
am very disappointed in China," Trump wrote in a pair of Twitter posts.
"...they do NOTHING for us with North Korea, just talk. We will no
longer allow this to continue. China could easily solve this problem!"
North Korea's test Friday
of an intercontinental ballistic missile was its second of the
long-range weapon in a month. The first on July 4 showed the missile had
the range to reach Alaska.
Friday's test was designed
to show the Hwasong-14 missile's maximum range with a "large-sized heavy
nuclear warhead," a statement from Pyongyang's Korean Central News
Agency said.
It said Washington should regard the launch as a "grave warning."
"The
whole US mainland" is now within North Korea's reach, KCNA quoted Kim
as saying. The North Korean leader called Pyongyang's weapons program "a
precious asset" that cannot be reversed or replaced, according to the
agency.
On Sunday, North Korea said
it will "respond with firm action" if the US continues to pursue
sanctions against it, according to KCNA, quoting a foreign ministry
spokesman.
"The US needs to stop
with its delusion of trying to harm us, by clearly understanding the
strategic status of the DPRK which soared up as the world's nuclear and
missile power, and our military and peoples' strong will to revenge our
enemies to destruction," the spokesman said.
"If
the US continues to frantically cling on to the so-called 'strong
sanctions' and military adventures against us, we will respond with firm
action of justice that we had already made clear," the spokesman added.
Expert: Missile test puts US mainland in range
Weapons
experts say if Friday's missile had been fired on a flatter, standard
trajectory, it would have threatened major US cities. Los Angeles,
Denver and Chicago would all be well within its range, with the possible
ability to reach as far as New York and Boston, according to David
Wright, a missile expert at the Union of Concerned Scientists.
However,
early analysis of Friday's test cannot determine how heavy a payload
the missile was carrying in its warhead, Wright said. The heavier the
payload, the shorter the range.
But
if North Korea's assertions about Friday's test are true, Pyongyang may
be even more advanced in its missile program than previously thought.
Earlier
in the week, a US official told CNN the United States believed that
North Korea would be able to launch a reliable nuclear-capable
intercontinental ballistic missile by early 2018.
The
official said that while North Korea can currently get a missile "off
the ground," a lot of undetermined variables remain about guidance,
re-entry and the ability to hit a specific target.
China to North Korea: Stop escalating tensions
China,
a longtime North Korean ally, issued a statement Saturday condemning
the missile launch and asked Pyongyang to "stop taking actions that
would escalate tensions" on the Korean Peninsula.
"The
UN Security Council has clear regulations on North Korea's launch
activities that use ballistic missile technologies. China is opposed to
North Korea's launch activities in violation of UN Security Council
resolutions and against the will of the international community,"
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said.
Beijing's statement reiterated its long-held position on North Korea's missile program.
But
Trump said in his tweets Saturday night that China has been taking
advantage of the US. He tied trade policy to the North Korea situation
and took a swipe at his predecessors in the Oval Office.
"Our
foolish past leaders have allowed them (China) to make hundreds of
billions of dollars a year in trade" while allowing North Korea's
missile program to become a direct threat to the US mainland, he wrote.
China
earlier this year proposed that North Korea freeze its nuclear weapons
and missile programs in exchange for the United States and South Korea
ending a string of military exercises that North Korea considers a
threat to its security.
B-1 bombers fly over Korean Peninsula
The
Trump administration has answered Pyongyang's missile tests with
displays of US military power, including missile tests of its own.
On
Sunday, the US Missile Defense Agency announced that it had conducted a
"successful" test of its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense THAAD
system in Alaska, intercepting a medium-range ballistic missile fired
from a US military aircraft over the Pacific Ocean. It was the 15th such
test.
Continuing another trend,
the US on Saturday sent two B-1 bombers from Andersen Air Force Base in
Guam on a 10-hour round trip over the Korean Peninsula in what the US
Pacific Air Forces called a direct response to the North Korean missile
test.
The B-1s teamed up with
Japanese and South Korean fighter jets to test "combined capabilities"
during the mission, the US military said in a statement.
Two
U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancers join a Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-2
fighter jet in a show of force after North Korea's latest missile test.
"Diplomacy
remains the lead; however, we have a responsibility to our allies and
our nation to showcase our unwavering commitment while planning for the
worst-case scenario. If called upon, we are ready to respond with rapid,
lethal, and overwhelming force at a time and place of our choosing,"
Gen. Terrence J. O'Shaughnessy, Pacific Air Forces commander, said in
the statement.
While Washington
continues its military pressure, it has also asked China to pressure
North Korea economically to cut off its access to foreign currency.
Beijing says it has slashed imports of coal from North Korea, but trade between the two countries is rising.
A Chinese government official said in mid-July that China-North Korea trade was worth $2.6 billion in the first half of 2017, up about 10% over the same period last year.
Trump criticized Beijing over the North Korean trade situation via Twitter in early July.
"So much for China working with us - but we had to give it a try!" he tweeted.
Zhang
Baohui, a professor of political science at Hong Kong's Lingnan
University, said Saturday's tweets from Trump show his policy on North
Korea has been a failure.
"Trump
has cornered himself on the North Korea issue -- now how can he climb
down? North Korea defies him, the only action he can take now is with
US-China relations," Zhang said.
