NORTH Korea has been firing and testing missiles—18 test launches this year—at an unprecedented pace. Amid its rising tensions with the U.S., it recently announced a detailed plan to redirect some of its intercontinental ballistic missiles toward Guam, an American territory in Micronesia in the Pacific Ocean.
Guam is one of America’s major military hubs and home to U.S. bombers. Experts believe that when North Korea’s plan is carried out, the situation could instantly escalate into war. North Korea is also preparing its plan to fire four of its Hwasong-12 missiles over Japan and into waters around the tiny island, which hosts 7,000 U.S. military personnel on two main bases and has a population of 160,000.
Despite this being part of North Korea’s usual nuclear and missile provocations, South Korea insists that the rising tension may still be resolved through diplomacy.
“Military action on the Korean peninsula can only be decided by South Korea and no one else can decide to take military action without the consent of South Korea,” South Korean President Moon Jae-in said.
Meanwhile, U.S. Department of Homeland Security assured Guam and U.S. residents that “there are several levels of defense, all strategically placed to protect our island and our nation.”
One-third of Guam’s 160,000-population (42,835) are Filipinos. Meanwhile, there are currently 65,000 Filipinos permanently residing or temporarily working with or without documents in South Korea.
This is why the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is monitoring the situation closely and has alerted its embassies in Guam and Seoul to make sure that contingency measures are in place.
Philippine Pres. Rodrigo Duterte urged both Washington and Pyongyang to exercise restraint and to begin talks to de-escalate the situation in the Korean Peninsula.
North Korea’s ballistic capabilities continue to show the world that it’s only a matter of time before this secretive regime bolster its stature against its perceived adversaries. Processing plutonium over the years, the country is believed to have enough fissile material to produce nuclear bombs.
Although still meager compared to the arsenals of nuclear powers such as the U.S., Russia and China, North Korea’s proliferation strengthens its image as a looming threat to the peace and security of the world.
Regardless of how potent North Korea’s threat is, Filipinos caught in the middle of this tension, along with other innocent lives, will be most affected should the worst case scenario arises.
For the time being, they are spared from imminent devastations. But no one should take any chance, concerned parties must aggressively pursue a pragmatic resolution and push for peace out of moral reasons. (AJPress)
