Guam's homeland security advisor says the US territory would still be a target for North Korea if there weren't any US military bases on the island.
This comes after North Korea restated its intentions to fire missiles towards Guam following its launch on Tuesday of a missile that flew over North Japan.
Guam community groups that are pro-indepence and demilitarisation have been critical of the threats being made against Guam by North Korea saying it is only a target because of the massive US military bases that take up a third of the island.
But George Charfauros says Guam will always be a target because of its status and its strategic location.
Koroi Hawkins spoke with Mr Charfauros and began by asking him if there had been a strengthening of the US military's presence on the island in response to the increased threats from North Korea.
A US Air Force B-1B bomber prepared to take off from Andersen Air Force Base in Guam in August.
Photo: US Air Force - Pacific Command
Transcript
GEORGE CHARFAUROS: I won't say it has but I won't say it does not. You know I am not at liberty to divulge that information.
KOROI HAWKINS: Right.
GC: If I do then I will be telling North Korea what we are doing. Not a good thing to do. Never tell the enemy what you are planning to do.
KH: You had said previously that there was a 0.000001 chance or a one in a million of a missile ever reaching waters anywhere near Guam. Is that still the case today?
GC: Yes it is. I have told people we have a greater chance of being hit by lightning then by a missile, being hit by a missile. The defenses that the United States has in place against ballistic missiles not just from North Korea but from any other nation is outstanding. You can find out all this information just go online and research US ballistic missile defense and it will show you everything that is out there that is unclassified. There is other systems out there that you know, I am not at liberty to talk about.
KH: Yes so very very safe. Maybe.
GC: Very safe.
KH: I understand that a certain percentage of your community on Guam are skeptical of the need for US protection in the sense that the US bases being based on Guam makes Guam a target. Is that a sentiment that you are getting or something that you are addressing or how do you see that, that viewpoint?
GC: Well I would say we are a democratic society and people have the right to express whatever they want whether it is correct or not. Yes there are folks out there with the sentiment that the only reason we are being targetted is because there is bases here. Well if we were a US territory and there was no bases here they will still target us. Because we are the nearest one to them. I always say the two economic pillars here on Guam is tourism and strategic location and we get money out of that. Both of those areas. And we have to balance it out. You know if the military wasn't here we would be under attack by anybody and then you know people will feel it is not safe here. It is not safe to come to paradise. So it is a delicate balance and we manage it. We manage it well.
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