Guam concerned by missile threat

Guam – One of the issues that comes from being a US territory in the Western Pacific is that you could become a target of Washington’s many enemies.

On the island of Guam, local officials were last week reportedl coordinating with their mainland federal law enforcement and military partners in “closely monitoring” reports of North Korea preparing to launch a mobile ballistic missile.

Guam Homeland Security and the Office of Civil Defence announced the perceived threat in a statement on Thursday.

Local officials and federal and military authorities coordinating a response to the threat through the Mariana Regional Fusion Centre.

The local Homeland Security’s statement cited a CNN report that said US intelligence satellites had spotted signs that North Korea might be preparing to launch a Musudan missile.

A Musudan missile could reach Guam or Hawai‘i, the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies stated in an April 12 report.

The Centre for Strategic and International Studies’ Korea expert, Victor Cha, stated in the report that April 15 was the 104th birthday celebration of the late North Korean leader Kim Il-sung, “which may present the need for an action”.

“The provocation could take the form of a fifth nuclear test – commercial satellite imagery suggests that all preparations are complete, and that a test could happen without any forewarning – or it could take the form of a launch of one of North Korea’s as-yet untested mobile, medium and long-range ballistic missiles,” according to Cha’s report.

“No definitive reports of an immediate threat to Guam or the Northern Marianas has surfaced at this time,” according to the local Homeland Security.

“Residents are advised to stay up to date with the situation,” according to the local Homeland Security.

The Mariana Regional Fusion Centre is part of a network that centralizes the intake, sharing and release of criminal and homeland security intelligence throughout the Mariana islands and coastal communities.

- Pacific Daily News