The United States island territory Guam, in Micronesia made headlines on Wednesday after North Korea said that it is considering a missile strike there following a threat issued by US President Donald Trump on Tuesday. Trump had said that US would meet their threats to North Korea with "fire and fury".
North Korea open to holding dialogue with Donald Trump administration
Why target Guam
This 550 square kilometres sovereign island was captured by the US from Spain in 1898 during the Spanish-American war.
Most of the Guamanians are American citizens by birth.
There are said to be about 6,000 US troops in Guam with almost a third of the island, that is 30 percent, being controlled by the US military.
The US has a naval base and coastguard station in the south and the Andersen Air Force Base (AFB) in the north. Guam is also a home to a host of nuclear bombers. There is another US naval base called Ordnance Annex situated on the south-central section of the island and a Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station in Guam.
Thus making Guam one of the most significant strategic military base of the US, which can further be used by them to launch an attack on North Korea.
On Monday night, two US B-1 bombers were flown from Guam over the Korean peninsula to join their counterparts from South Korea and Japan for a mission over the Korean peninsula. Hours later Korean Central News Agency reported that they can destroy Guam's military assets.
Is it within North Korea's strike range
The US island territory is just over 2,000 miles from North Korea. It is within range of North Korean medium and long-range missiles, thus making it a logical target for Pyongyang.
According to The Sun, intelligence reports have said that North Korea has produced nuclear weapons, which are capable of striking Guam and targets further afield.
