British minister: North Korea 'massive threat' to UK

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON

The U.K. must step up to deal with North Korea’s controversial missile program as the east Asian country is on the path to developing devices that could hit London, Britain’s defense minister has said.

Describing the North Korean regime a “massive threat” and a “real danger” to the U.K., Gavin Williamson underlined his country would “never hesitate to deal with aggression and threats”.

Williamson’s comments came Tuesday in an exclusive in the Evening Standard, following U.S. President Donald Trump’s warning of the “nuclear menace” posed by North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-un.

Williamson said North Korea was not “just a problem for the United States. This is a global problem. Britain has to step up in terms of dealing with it.”

“Britain is a global player, it’s a world player,” he insisted. “We will never hesitate to deal with aggression and threats.”

Williamson said two British frigates were sailing to the region to take part in regional operations.

Pyongyang raised tensions a few weeks ago by resuming its missile tests with a long-range device which could hit targets as far away as 13,000 kilometers (8,000 miles). The tested missile has put London in the strike range.

North Korea received condemnation from the international community, including its ally China, but it boasted of developing a missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and reaching the U.S. mainland.

Cyber attack

Meanwhile, U.K. Foreign Office Minister Lord Ahmad “has attributed the WannaCry ransomware incident to North Korean actors the Lazarus Group”.

“The decision to publicly attribute this incident sends a clear message that the U.K. and its allies will not tolerate malicious cyber activity,” a government statement read.

“The U.K.’s National Cyber Security Centre assesses it is highly likely that North Korean actors known as the Lazarus Group were behind the WannaCry ransomware campaign -- one of the most significant to hit the U.K. in terms of scale and disruption,” Lord Ahmed was quoted as saying.

The ransomware brought British health services to a halt in May when it infected thousands of computers. It also affected telephone services in Spain and targeted major companies like FedEx, causing Europe-wide disruption and financial losses.