By Boluwatife Ezekiel Olaleye
With the tensions
between N. Korea and the United States, the United States and Russia and China
prompting to take sides with North Korea following claims of possessing
Hydrogen bomb, it won't be far-fetched or exaggerative to say we might just be
facing the prospects of a third World War.
The French defence
minister has warned, "North Korea could develop missiles that can reach
Europe sooner than expected."
Reuters reports that
Florence Parly told the French military in Toulon there are risks to the
continent from intercontinental ballistic missiles being built by Kim Jong Un's
regime.
Her comments came after Russian leader Vladimir Putin said that any new
sanctions against North Korea because of its nuclear programme would be "useless" and "ineffective".
Ms Parly said in a
speech: "The scenario of an escalation towards a major conflict cannot be
discarded.
"Europe risks
being within range of (North Korean President) Kim Jong Un missile sooner than
expected.
A report overnight said that the North is moving what appears to be an
intercontinental ballistic missile towards its west coast.
South Korea's Asia
Business Daily cited an intelligence source as saying the rocket was spotted
moving on Monday, the day after Pyongyang's sixth and largest nuclear test.
The North Korean
missile programme's launch facilities are on its west coast - and the move was
reportedly made during the night to avoid surveillance.
South Korea's defence
ministry said it could not confirm the report, but it said on Monday that its
neighbour was ready to launch more missiles.
In July, North Korea
tested two ICBMs capable of flying about 6,200 miles, threatening parts of the
US mainland.
The closest European
country to North Korea is Norway, which is a straight-line distance of around
3,900 miles away.
But that doesn't take
into consideration the fact that a missile would have to leave the atmosphere
and return to earth.
The minister's
warning comes days after North Korea claimed to have carried out a hydrogen
bomb test - estimated by South Korea to have been three times as powerful as
the Hiroshima atomic bomb.
One of North Korea's
top diplomats said his country was ready to send "more gift packages"
to the United States.
Han Tae Song, North
Korea's ambassador to the UN in Geneva, told a conference on disarmament:
"I am proud of saying that just two days ago on the 3rd of September, DPRK
(North Korea) successfully carried out a hydrogen bomb test for
intercontinental ballistic rocket under its plan for building a strategic
nuclear force.
"The recent
self-defence measures by my country, DPRK, are a 'gift package' addressed to
none other than the US," he added.
"The US will receive more 'gift
packages' from my country as long as its relies on reckless provocations and
futile attempts to put pressure on the DPRK," he concluded without
elaborating.
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