HAGATNA, Guam — North Korea’s launch of a “new” intermediate range ballistic missile earlier this week that “will reliably contain any rivals in the Pacific” has fired up debate about the U.S. military’s ability to defend Guam from potential attack.
The Asian country’s first major test launch of the year was a “new” weapon with a hypersonic warhead that flew about 1,000 miles (1,500 kilometers), North Korean state media reported.
Last year China launched its first long-range missile in 40-years into the Pacific and the U.S. has conducted several, including its first successful test missile intercept from Guam last month.
“I have full confidence in the readiness and capabilities of our armed forces and the strategic defenses of our island and the region,” local Republican Sen. Jesse Lujan told BenarNews.
While acknowledging that Pyongyang’s “threat is concerning,” Lujan dismissed it as a “sideshow.”
North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un oversaw Monday’s launch. He was quoted by the state-run Korean Central News Agency as hailing the test for putting the “country’s nuclear war deterrent on an advanced basis” with a “weapon system to which no one can respond.”
“The hypersonic missile system will reliably contain any rivals in the Pacific region that can affect the security of our state.”
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The United States and its allies denounced North Korea at a U.N. Security Council meeting on Wednesday.
North Korea responded that it has the right to self-defence against “nuclear-based” enemies.
In 2017, when then U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to bring “fire and fury” down on North Korea, Pyongyang responded that it was “carefully examining the operational plan for making an enveloping fire at the areas around Guam.”
The U.S. Department of Defense is proposing to build a US$1.8 billion missile defense system on Guam to counter threats from China and North Korea.
“The real focus must remain on preparing for China’s growing influence and capabilities,” Lujan said. “By strengthening our defenses and alliances to address that challenge, we will inherently be prepared for anything North Korea does.”
Strategic location
Located closer to Beijing than Hawaii, the U.S. territory serves as a key strategic asset and is known as the “tip of the spear” with 10,000 military personnel on the island, a base for F-35 fighters and B-2 bombers and home port for Virginia-class nuclear submarines.
Another 5,000 Marines are due to relocate to Guam from Okinawa in Japan starting this year.
A local think tank has warned the arms race in the region exposes Guam to the perils of war, but the civilian sector has been left out of security and survival planning.
“The Missile Defense Agency’s proposal for an [Enhanced integrated Air Missile Defense System] in Guam is overstated in its effectiveness and understated in the real and potential damaging repercussions to the Guam community,” said Robert Underwood, chair of the Pacific Center for Island Security, said in a statement.
On Wednesday, public submissions closed on the MDA’s draft environmental impact statement for the proposed missile defense architecture.
The PCIS submission said “there remained significant questions about the ability of the system to function as proposed.”
It pointed out that the defense department has marked areas in the Pacific region that would serve as “alternative operating locations” if Guam became incapacitated.
“This indicates that even DoD planners do not anticipate the EIAMDS will defend the entirety of Guam,’” the group said.
Residents expressed mixed feelings about the North Korean test. Rubyjane Buhain-Redila told BenarNews she wasn’t scared and it is the “same old, I’m desensitized already.”
Others like Kyle Mandapat are concerned and want the civilian population to be better informed “in the event of an attack, much like we prepare for tsunamis, typhoons and earthquakes.”
Fellow resident Debbie Quinata was critical of elected officials for providing “no bunkers for the public, we’re sitting ducks.”
Guam’s Chamber of Commerce supports the enhancement of the island’s defensive capabilities, which will potentially bring billions of dollars in new investments and economic opportunities
“We must rely on our military partners ensuring that we have the necessary measures in place to protect our island and the nation’s home front,” Ernie Galito, chair of the GCC board of directors, told BenarNews.
China in September test fired an ICBM that flew over Guam to land on the high seas near Kiribati’s territorial waters.
Last October, North Korea launched what it claimed was its most advanced and powerful solid-fuel intercontinental ballistic missile - called the Hwasong-19 - with an estimated range of over 9,000 miles and capable of striking the U.S. mainland.
Last November, the United States fired an unarmed ICBM from its Vandenberg Air Force Base in California that splashed down 4,200 miles away at Republic of Marshall Islands’ Kwajalein Atoll. More than 300 similar U.S. tests have been conducted.
BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated news organization.