HAGATNA, Guam (AP) — Residents of the U.S. territory Guam say they’re afraid after being caught in the middle of rising tensions between President Donald Trump and North Korea, but Gov. Eddie Calvo reassured his constituents that there is no threat to the island.
The North Korean army said Wednesday it’s examining operational plans for attacking the island, a military hub about 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometers) south of Tokyo in the Pacific Ocean.
“An attack or threat to Guam is a threat or attack on the United States,” said Calvo, who said he spoke with White House officials Monday morning. “They have said that America will be defended.”
North Korea said it mastered a crucial technology needed to strike the U.S. with a nuclear missile. In response, Trump threatened the communist country “with fire and fury.”
“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.”