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Trump Says Warning To North Korea 'Maybe Wasn't Tough Enough'


North Korea Says Guam Strike Plan 'Ready By Mid-August'
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WATCH: North Korea Says Guam Strike Plan 'Ready By Mid-August'

U.S. President Donald Trump has said his comments that North Korea "will be met with fire and fury" if it threatened the United States again may not have been “tough enough.”

Speaking to reporters on August 10, Trump said that while he will always consider negotiations, Pyongyang should be “very, very nervous” if it does anything to the United States.

North Korea should “get their act together” or it will be in trouble “like few nations have ever been,” he also said.

On August 8, the U.S. president warned that North Korea will “be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen" after a Washington Post report, citing U.S. intelligence officials, said Pyongyang had produced a miniaturized nuclear warhead that can fit inside its missiles -- a key step in the country's attempt to become a full-fledged nuclear power.

Tillerson: North Korean Leader 'Doesn't Seem To Understand Diplomatic Language'
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In response, Pyongyang announced a detailed plan to fire missiles near the U.S. territory of Guam soon as a "crucial warning," adding that "only absolute force can work" on Trump.

Tensions between Washington and Pyongyang have escalated after North Korea tested two intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) in July, later claiming that it now had the capability to reach all of the U.S. mainland.

Last week, the United Nations imposed its harshest sanctions yet on Pyongyang as a result of its nuclear weapons program. They are expected to cut North Korea's export revenues by one-third.

Speaking on August 10 at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, Trump praised China and Russia for backing the sanctions, saying “I have great respect for what China and what Russia did.”

But he said China, North Korea's closest ally, could do "a lot more" to pressure Pyongyang to end its nuclear weapons program.

Trump also railed against previous U.S. administrations for not being tough enough on North Korea, calling the country’s pursuit of nuclear weapons a "tragedy."

Trump Warns North Korea Of 'Fire And Fury'
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Earlier on August 10, North Korea’s state-run news agency KCNA quoted General Kim Rak Gyom, commander of the Strategic Force of the Korean People's Army (KPA), as saying that Pyongyang was planning to launch four Hwasong-12 rockets that would fly over Japan and hit the water around 30 to 40 kilometers away from Guam in the western Pacific.

Guam, located in the Pacific Ocean some 3,400 kilometers from the Korean Peninsula, is home to a U.S. military base and about 160,000 people.

Kim said the plan would be finalized by mid-August and that the KPA would then await the orders of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

He also said that Trump had "let out a load of nonsense about 'fire and fury,' failing to grasp the ongoing grave situation."

Meanwhile, South Korea's military on August 10 warned Pyongyang that it would face "the allies' strong and resolute retaliation" in case of an attack.

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Pyongyang's threat to fire missiles near Guam is "absolutely unacceptable."

With reporting by AFP, AP, and Reuters

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