North Korea could launch a missile attack on Australia at any moment and the country must prepare for nuclear war, a former high-ranking US official has warned.
Dr Brad Roberts served as US deputy assistant secretary of defence for nuclear and missile defence policy between 2009 and 2013.
‘Australia doesn’t really get to choose whether or not North Korea threatens it – it’s the choice that the North Korean leader makes,’ he told the ABC.
North Korea could launch a missile attack on Australia at any moment and the country must prepare for nuclear war, an expert has warned
Dr Brad Roberts warned a missile fired from Pyongyang could devastate an Australian city and said Kim Jong-un may order the attack
Dr Roberts said Jong-un considers all US allies the enemy of North Korea, making Australia a potential target
Dr Roberts said Kim Jong-un considers all US allies the enemy of North Korea, making Australia a potential target.
‘His objective is to make us fearful so that our leaders will not stand up to his threats and coercion,’ he said.
Dr Roberts believes Australia must ensure its warships are fully equipped with the latest technologies to protect itself from potential devastation.
‘A sea-based capability on the advanced destroyer that would include a sea-based radar and some interceptors: That could operate in coalition partnership with other allies,’ he said.
This picture was released from North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency in July this year
Dr Brad Roberts served as US deputy assistant secretary of defence for nuclear and missile defence policy between 2009 and 2013
This undated picture was released from North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency
Recent tests show missiles fired by the rouge regime are now capable of hitting northern Australia, and some of the country’s largest cities could even be in range.
Joseph Siracusa, Professor in Human Security and International Diplomacy at RMIT University, says we are edging closer to war.
‘I think we’re very close to something that’s going to have a very unhappy ending,’ he told A Current Affair.
Retired Major General Jim Molan said nations are planning and preparing for nuclear war, and emphasised the difficulty of defending Australia from attack.
This image shows a blast radius projection if North Korea’s most powerful nuclear weapon hit Sydney
Joseph Siracusa (pictured), Professor in Human Security and International Diplomacy at RMIT University, says we are edging closer to war
‘Can we protect ourselves by a ballistic missile defence system? Well, it’s very very difficult and fabulously expensive,’ he said.
On the other hand, North Korean belligerence has been a problem for the past 70 years, and tensions with the rogue state are nothing new, he said.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, who is visiting Washington for high-level talks, said Kim Jong-un was to blame for the crisis.
Donald Trump has been accused of raising tensions by taunting the young North Korean leader by calling him ‘Little Rocket Man’ but Ms Bishop said the problem predated the Trump presidency.
She said she is confident that war is not inevitable, and tough new sanctions would eventually bring Kim to the negotiating table, The Financial Review reported.
Retired Major General Jim Molan (pictured) said nations are planning and preparing for nuclear war, and emphasised the difficulty of defending Australia from attack
Donald Trump has been accused of raising tensions by taunting the young North Korean leader by calling him ‘Little Rocket Man’
Donald Trump has been accused of raising tensions by taunting the young North Korean leader by calling him ‘Little Rocket Man’ (pictured) but Ms Bishop the problem predated the Trump presidency
‘While the President’s rhetoric is, as Secretary Tillerson said, in a language North Korea understands, the collective strategy is to increase the political, diplomatic and particularly economic pressure,’ she said.
‘I believe North Korea can be deterred. I don’t think there is anything inevitable about this current circumstance.’
Nuclear strikes on Australian cities could cause the instant death of hundreds of thousands of people, according to calculations based on North Korea’s latest weapons.
Almost 150,000 people would die if Sydney was hit, and landmarks such as the Sydney Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge would be destroyed.
Radiation poisoning could then kill hundreds of thousands more.
A projection of the blast radius if a North Korean nuclear missile hit the Canberra city centre
A projection of the blast radius if a North Korean nuclear missile hit north of the Darwin city centre
A projection of the blast radius if a North Korean nuclear missile hit the Melbourne city centre
A projection of the blast radius if a North Korean nuclear missile hit the city centre of Perth
A projection of the blast radius if a North Korean nuclear missile hit the Brisbane city centre
A projection of the blast radius if a North Korean nuclear missile hit the Adelaide city centre
A projection of the blast radius if a North Korean nuclear missile hit the Hobart city centre