Further NK Provocations Could be on the Horizon: Adm. Willard

WASHINGTON (Yonhap) — The military commander in charge of U.S. forces in the Asia-Pacific region expressed concern Tuesday that North Korea will resume belligerence related to its ongoing power succession.

U.S. Pacific chief vigilant about N. Korea, China

Navy Adm. Robert Willard, head of the U.S. Pacific Command is vigilant about North Korea’s belligerence and China’s military becoming increasingly assertive.
Those issues may become the chief concerns of the American public in the future.

In response to the sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan in March, the United States is planning a military exercise in that region. The timing and participants haven’t been announced. An international investigation concluded last month that North Korea torpedoed the Cheonan, which North Korea denies.

The U.S. exercise is a show of force. Beyond that, Willard said, the Cheonan incident made South Korea want to beef up training and become more effective in deterring the North.

China Testing Ballistic Missile ‘Carrier-Killer’

Chinese Medium Range Ballistic Missile

Admiral Robert Willard, PACOM commander, disclosed that China was “developing and testing a conventional… [medium-range ballistic missile] designed specifically to target aircraft carriers.”  While the system had been heard in rumor and speculation for sometime, this was the first official acknowledgment of its existence.  If deployed, Chinese anti-ship ballistic missiles would be the first capable of targeting a moving aircraft-carrier from a long-range. This would almost certainly shift the balance of power in the Pacific.

Last week, Adm. Robert Willard, the head of U.S. Pacific Command (PACOM), made an alarming but little-noticed disclosure. China, he told legislators, was “developing and testing a conventional anti-ship ballistic missile based on the DF-21/CSS-5 [medium-range ballistic missile] designed specifically to target aircraft carriers.”

What, exactly, does this mean? Evidence suggests that China has been developing an anti-ship ballistic missile, or ASBM, since the 1990s. But this is the first official confirmation that it has advanced to the stage of actual testing.