Guam keeps calm over North Korean threats
Guam Governor Eddie Calvo downplayed North Korean threats against this strategic territory for the US military in the Pacific on Wednesday but said the island was "prepared for any eventuality."
Tensions over North Korea's ballistic and nuclear program rose on Tuesday as US President Donald Trump promised Pyongyang's "fire and anger".
Not to be outdone, North Korea told hours after it was studying missile attacks on US military bases on the island of Guam.
In a televised address, the governor of the small US territory stated that he was working with Washington to "ensure [his] security."
"I want to reassure the population that there is currently no threat to our island or the [neighboring] Marianas islands," he added.
"I have spoken with the commander of the Marianas region, Rear Admiral Shoshana Chatfield, who has confirmed it to me," he added.
Guam, an isolated Pacific island of about 550 km2, is a key outpost for US forces, strategically located between the Korean peninsula and the South China Sea.
Some 6,000 troops are deployed in the territory, particularly at the Andersen air base and the Guam naval base.
According to Calvo, there are "several levels of defense" strategically established to defend Guam. The White House assured him that an attack on this territory would be considered an attack on the United States, he said
"They have said that the United States will be defended. I also want to remind the national media that Guam is US territory and that 200,000 Americans live in Guam and in the Marianas. We are only military installations. That being said, I want to make sure we are prepared for any eventuality. "
In the streets of the capital, Hagatna, the population seemed calm.
"It's not like we could do anything anyway," James Cruz, an inhabitant, told AFP. "It's a small island. There is nowhere to run. "
Madeleine Bordallo, the delegate of Guam in the US House of Representatives, said that although North Korea's nuclear capability was "deeply disturbing" it was convinced that the island was safe and well protected.
Some 162,000 people reside in Guam, a territory that lives mainly from tourism and the United States Armed Forces.
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