US President praises North Korean leader for holding his fire

U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday praised North Korean leader Kim Jong-un for a “wise” decision not to fire missiles towards the U.S. territory of Guam, which has eased escalating tension between the two countries.

Mr. Trump had warned North Korea last week it would face “fire and fury” if it threatened the United States, prompting North Korea to say it was considering plans to fire missiles towards the Pacific island of Guam.

But North Korean media reported on Tuesday that Mr. Kim had delayed the decision while he awaited to see what the United States did next.

Avoiding a catastrophe

“Kim Jong-un of North Korea made a very wise and well reasoned decision,” Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter.

“The alternative would have been both catastrophic and unacceptable!"

North Korea’s threat to fire towards Guam had prompted Mr. Trump to say earlier that the U.S. military was “locked and loaded” if North Korea acted unwisely.

Also, Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford told Fang Fenghui, chief of the Joint Staff Department of the People’s Liberation Army, in Beijing that North Korea’s weapons programmes threatened the entire international community, including China.

Meanwhile, Japan conducted air manoeuvres with U.S. bombers southwest of the Korean peninsula on Wednesday involving two U.S. Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers flying from Andersen Air Force Base on Guam and two Japanese F-15 jet fighters, Japan’s Air Self Defence Force said in a news release.