Governor assured Guam is safe

by Ken Quintanilla

Guam - Following threats made last week against Guam and other U.S. bases in the Pacific, North Korea once again has threatened our island territory and this time included Hawaii. But according to Governor Eddie Calvo, he's been reassured that Guam is in fact safe.

In light of recent threats from North Korea, Calvo has been in close communication with military officials and the Pentagon. Just this morning he spoke with commander of Joint Region Marianas Admiral Tilghman Payne, saying, "I did receive assurances based on the current American overlay of military facilities and assets in the Asia-Pacific Region that there are multi-layer defense systems in place to protect places such as Guam."

The alert was prompted following North Korea's latest threat to attack Guam, Hawaii and the U.S. mainland. North Korea ordered all of its field artillery units including strategic rocket units and long-range artillery units to be on high alert.

Calvo says it is concerning especially when North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, someone he calls a madman, makes such strong threats. "But with those concerns you have to tamper those concerns down with the history of North Korea, both the statements that its leadership has made in the past and the limitations they also have in their military forces," he said.

Calvo ultimately says some of the "bluster" coming out of North Korea doesn't match its capabilities adding there's comfort in knowing Guam is under the defense umbrella of the most powerful nation in the world. 'It is allied with very power nations such as Japan and South Korea who each have their defense armament systems that could deal with some of the, if there's potential for a military hostilities they will have those capabilities to deter or defend areas such as Guam," he said.

He's since advised Guam Homeland Security and representatives from Adelup and the Guam National Guard together with Joint Region Marianas to revisit some of the contingency plans here at home. "But that being said, it's important especially in times such as this to review all the plans that we have and also for everyone to be clear of their responsibilities again in the most unlikely event that hostilities were to occur," he said.