US President Donald Trump has praised Kim Jong Un for making the decision to halt missile tests towards Guam. Photo / AP
By Victoria Craw
President Trump has praised Kim Jong Un for making what he called a "very wise and well reasoned decision" to halt missile tests towards Guam.
"Kim Jong Un of North Korea made a very wise and well reasoned decision. The alternative would have been both catastrophic and unacceptable!" the US leader tweeted on Wednesday.
It comes after tensions between the two countries reached fever pitch with fears the US and North Korea were on the brink of a nuclear war.
This week, Kim praised the North Korean military for creating a "close and careful plan" to launch missiles towards Guam.
However he said he would watch the "foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees" before deciding whether to order the test in a move that was seen as leaving the door open to diplomatic efforts.
Pictures showed Kim sitting at a table with a large map marked by a straight line between what appeared to be northeastern North Korea and Guam, and passing over Japan - apparently showing the missiles' flight route.
It had led to fears a missile launch could leave just minutes for civillians in Guam, Japan or Hawaii to react.
An upcoming pre-planned military drill between the US and South Korea was also expected to antagonise the North Korean leader even further.
The apparent climb-down comes after rising rhetoric in which Trump threatened "fire and fury" and vowed US military solutions were "locked and loaded" should Kim Jong Un act "unwisely".
However the US has also been pursuing diplomatic backchannels including increased UN sanctions and talks with China.
On Wednesday, General Joe Dunford, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Chinese General Fang Fenghui the United States was ready to use military options if diplomacy fails, according to a Pentagon spokesman.
During their talks, Dunford and Fang signed a Joint Staff Dialogue Mechanism to improve communication between the US and Chinese militaries and prevent the risk of an accident leading to a nuclear war.
Dunford "stressed that it will only be useful if it results in reducing the risk of miscalculation, which not only has long-term benefits to manage bilateral differences."
China has urged the US and North Korea to "hit the brakes" on the verbal threats that have led to emergency warnings being issued in Hawaii and Guam.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov they should not "stir up an incident on their doorstep".
"The most important task at hand is for the US and North Korea to 'hit the brakes' on their mutual needling of each other with words and actions, to lower the temperature of the tense situation and prevent the emergence of an 'August crisis,"' he said.
- With wires
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