Alaska governor calls for more defences amid N. Korea threat
FAIRBANKS, Alaska — Alaska Gov. Bill Walker said he didn’t think North Korea would be able to strike the state with a nuclear warhead until 2020. But spiraling rumours about the country’s missile capabilities and its leader Kim Jung Un’s recent comments — coupled with President Donald Trump’s statements — have led to him saying the state needs to expand its military presence.
Walker said earlier this week to Politico he was concerned about North Korea’s threats to the U.S. and the Asian nation’s claims that its missiles can hit Alaska, The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported (http://bit.ly/2wSzwFz ). But “no one’s hiding under the desk,” he said.
“It’s actually, in some respects, gotten here sooner than we thought,” Walker said. “So we’re earlier than anticipated, and we want to make sure that we’re well protected and everything.”
The state has a Long Range Discrimination Radar under construction, which will give missile defenders a better look at what is happening over the Pacific Ocean, Sen. Lisa Murkowski said.