The urgent priority must be to de-escalate and pursue a negotiated solution to the crisis

Anti-war campaigners from the Stop the War Coalition and CND will be having a protest delegation to protest against Trump’s inflammatory statements and behaviour towards North Korea this Friday at 1pm at the US Embassy on Grosvenor Square. The delegation will be handing in a statement calling for Trump to de-escalate the situation.

The standoff between the US and North Korea is frightening. The cycle of threat and counter-threat is creating an appalling situation in which warfare between nuclear states is being discussed as a serious option on both sides.

In this context Donald Trump’s outburst against the North Korean regime is deeply troubling. What impact can threats of ‘fire and fury’ ​have but to escalate tension and increase the likelihood of a catastrophic confrontation?

The urgent priority must be the opposite, to de-escalate and pursue a negotiated resolution to the crisis, which major players in the region are trying to achieve and most commentators recognise as eminently possible.

This would, however, require a sharp change of direction from both sides, including from the US, which has dramatically increased its military capabilities in South Korea and its military presence in the area. Already this week US B-1 bombers have flown from Guam over the Korean peninsula, joining the South Korean and Japanese airforces in joint exercises.

Such provocative actions on both sides must end. We must demand our governments focus on a peaceful resolution to this confrontation.

Join the protest on Friday, 11 August at 1pm

U.S. Embassy London, 24 Grosvenor Square