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Guam’s worries grow as tensions rise between US, North Korea

In this May 15, 2017, file photo, tourists walk through a shopping district in Tamuning, Guam. Security and defense officials on Guam said on Aug. 9, 2017, that there is no imminent threat to people there or in the Northern Mariana Islands after North Korea said it was examining its operational plans for attack. (AP Photo/Haven Daley, File)
In this May 15, 2017, file photo, tourists walk through a shopping district in Tamuning, Guam. Security and defense officials on Guam said on Aug. 9, 2017, that there is no imminent threat to people there or in the Northern Mariana Islands after North Korea said it was examining its operational plans for attack. (AP Photo/Haven Daley, File) In this May 15, 2017, file photo, tourists walk through a shopping district in Tamuning, Guam. Security and defense officials on Guam said on Aug. 9, 2017, that there is no imminent threat to people there or in the Northern Mariana Islands after North Korea said it was examining its operational plans for attack. (AP Photo/Haven Daley, File)

By Associated Press 5 min read

HAGATNA, Guam (AP) – Residents of the tiny Pacific island of Guam say they’re afraid of being caught in the middle of escalating tensions between the U.S. and North Korea after Pyongyang announced it was examining plans for attacking the strategically important U.S. territory.

Though local officials downplayed any threat, people who live and work on the island, which serves as a launching pad for the U.S. military, said Wednesday they could no longer shrug off the idea of being a potential target.

“I’m a little worried, a little panicked. Is this really going to happen?” said Cecil Chugrad, a 37-year-old bus driver for a tour bus company in Guam. “If it’s just me, I don’t mind, but I have to worry about my son. I feel like moving (out of Guam) now.”

Guam is used to the threats from North Korea but advances in the country’s nuclear program paired with fiery rhetoric from President Donald Trump has raised the already high animosity and heightened worries that a miscalculation might spark conflict between the nuclear-armed nations.

Reports suggested North Korea mastered a technological hurdle needed to strike the U.S. with a nuclear missile. The advances were detailed in an official Japanese assessment and later a Washington Post story that cited U.S. intelligence officials and a confidential Defense Intelligence Agency report.