Even though the complex is a significant source of hard currency for North Korea, it was announced for a second day, that the border, and access to the Kaesong industrial park was barred to South Korean managers.
Pyongyang threatens to close down the complex permanently, even though as many as 50,000 North Koreans work there and North Koreans benefit greatly from the industrial park. State media has announced that the closure “is set to become a reality.”
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Meanwhile the belligerant asian country has moved a missile to its eastern coast according to reports from Japan. It was reported in the Japanese newspaper Asahi that what appears to be a KN-08 missile, was seen by a U.S. intelligence satellite, as it was being transported by train to the eastern coast of North Korea. The KN-08 has the ability to strike the western coast of the U.S.
South Korea is discounting those reports however, and stating that the missile is a medium-range Musudan or BM-25, which is a 40-60 foot long ballistic missile capable of carrying a 2,600 pound warhead. That missile has an approximate range of 2,000 miles. With those range capabilities, the missile is not a threat to U.S. territory, but South Korea and Japan are clearly within its range.
North Korean armed forces have been given the final review and approval to carry out a strike using “miniaturized, lightweight and diversified cutting-edge nuclear” weapons according to a spokeman for the general staff of the Korean People’s Army.
While still considered bluster, the United States is taking Pyongyang’s threats seriously. It was announced by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel that the Pentagon was sending an advanced Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile system to Guam.
Hagel said during a speech at the National Defense University in Washington, “There is a pathway that’s responsible for the North to get on a path to peace, working with their neighbors. There are many, many benefits to their people that could come,” said Hagel. “But, they’ve got to be a responsible member of the world community. And, you don’t achieve that responsibility and peace and prosperity by making nuclear threats and taking very provocative actions.”