seoul, the republic's largest city, lies in ruins.rubble testifies to the grim fact that more than 80% of it has been destroyed. hunger, poverty, and despair seem neighbors along these ravaged streets. but that was 1953. korea today seems like a very distant relative to that once war-ravaged land. it is from the people that a nation derives its character. and no more is the revival more evident than in its people. from a straggling band of demoralized refugees, the people have grown into a cohesive, energetic nation. ♪ a returning u.s. army sergeant who was here during the fighting observed the first thing you notice is the children. they are not starving anymore, running around with their little bellies swollen. the children, you notice right away. ♪ poverty still exists, to some degree. even the threat of famine caused by monsoon or drought. but the hopelessness of a war-ruined country is behind them. the people have a chance, and they know it. it shows in their pride, in their energy, in their seemingly endless capacity for work. t

♪ >>> seoul, capital of south korea.ne community in the center of this city is drawing widespread attention. seongmisan is made up about 770,077 70,000 families. this restaurant is one example of their efforts. >> translator: members invested anywhere from h$45 u.s. all the way to $4500. that's how we built the restaurant. >> this soap store opened when four home makers each invested $5500. each bar is hand made, using natural materials. >> translator: my kid has allergies, but a natural soap really helped calm them down, so i decided to try making it myself, and that's how i got started. >> the cooperative businesses include a school. unusually the curriculum is decided by teachers and parents. in this community, the key concept is to provide what's truly necessary. decisions are reached through heated discussions. >> translator: whatever you want to achieve, we will help you get started. the strong community ties here create a very supportive environment. it's relationships that count. >> a cooperative community run by

steven evans took the train there and back from seoul.st bizarre train journeys in the world. it goes up from the south korean capital to the border with north korea, and then it returns. this bridge is a new bridge. the old one was destroyed in the korean war. it is a politicaljourney. it is designed to make the point that the train goes, and can go no further. so i've just arrived at dorasan station, and you look around and it seems completely normal, like loads of stations. actually, though, look a bit closer and it is very abnormal. you get in that it with this sign. it is a propaganda station. pyongyang that way, seoul back that way. this is the most militarised part of the whole planet. as you come in here, you see mined areas walled off on either side of the tracks. until 2008, freight trains would go down that track to north korea. it is two kilometres to the actual border, just over a mile. this place was built as a real station, and look at it — magnificent waiting room and booking hall. the booking desk is still there, turnstil

the bbc‘s steven evans took the train there and back from seoul.the world. it goes up from the north korean capital to the border with north korea. it says this ridge is a new bridge, the old one was destroyed in the korean war. it isa one was destroyed in the korean war. it is a politicaljourney. it is designed to make the point that the train goes and can go no further. so, i have just train goes and can go no further. so, i havejust arrived train goes and can go no further. so, i have just arrived at dorasan station, and you look around and it seems completely normal like many stations. located closer and it is very abnormal. you get in that it with this sign. it is a propaganda station. pyongyang that way, seoul back that way. this is the most militarised part of the whole planet. coming here, you see mined areas walled off on either side of the tracks. until 2008, freight trains would go to north korea. it is two kilometres to the actual border, just over a mile. this place was built as a real station. and look at it, magnificent waiting rooms

kim jong-un could quickly attack seoul, south korea, killing millions. >> we would have to be prepared to go all in meaning all out korean war. >> reporter: the u.s. does have a limited missile defense capability on land and at sea but there are questions about its reliability in some cases. >> the same situation applies even if we are to just take out one missile in mid air, that could escalate to an all out war. >> reporter: the map is simple. north korea has thousands of infantry forces and armor and artillery. much of it according to the pentagon in thousands of underground facilities in bunkers ready to fire on seoul. >> the military maintains

we havejust received an official statement from the defence department here in seoul.pyongyang to the invitation for talks, and therefore there is no realistic possibility of talks today. now, i think this can be interpreted in several ways. they have still kept the door open to pyongyang if it does want to follow up with talks. this may be a question of timing from north korea's point of view. the leader kim jong—un possibly not wanting to be strong—armed into determining the timeline and timeframe for these talks. so although i have to say a lot of people in seoul are not surprised at the fact that also not going ahead today, that doesn't rule them out altogether. and it is not simply a question of picking up the phone. the phone lines were cut, the direct link between the countries cut last year after an economic dispute. and therefore the authorities here in seoul are awaiting some kind of official communication, possibly through the media, from pyongyang as to whether it is prepared to engage. and kim jong—un has to whether it is prepared to engage. and kimjong—un

karen allen, bbc news, seoul.ed yesterday, following a lengthy legal battle over what medical treatment he received. charlie's parents, connie yates and chris gard, wanted their son to be taken to the united states to be treated for a rare genetic condition, which causes progressive rain damage and muscle weakness. they eventually dropped their legal challenge against great 0rmond street — the hospital looking after charlie — when a specialist offering to treat charlie in the us, said it was too late for the treatment to work. pope francis, who followed charlie's story closely, tweeted: here, the prime minister theresa may said: president trump had offered support to charlie and his family during the legal dispute. nearly a quarter of shops are breaking the law, by selling knives to underage people, some as young as 13 years old. that's according to new figures from the local government association which says some retailers, including two supermarket chains, have been caught out. adina campbell has more. with knif

thank you very much forjoining us from seoul.some of the other stories making the news around the world. huge forest fires in the south east of france are being fanned by unusually hot, dry and windy weather. the island of corsica, and areas near nice and saint—tropez are badly affected. dozens of homes have been evacuated. some roads and railways have been temporarily closed. ajudge will decide today whether the 11 month old baby, charlie gard, should be able to leave great ormond street hospital in london, to die at home. lawyers for the hospital say a hospice would be a more appropriate place for charlie, who is suffering from a rare inherited disease. charlie's parents fought and lost a long legal battle to allow charlie to undergo experiemental therapy in the us. one of the vatican's most seniorfigures, cardinal pell, has appeared in court in australia to face multiple charges of historical sex abuse. the former archbishop of sydney and melbourne insists he's innocent. details of the charges haven't been made public. the mig

karen allen, bbc news, seoul.ctor of the asia—pacific studies group at the us naval war college. hejoins us from rhode island. this missile went higher and further, alarming, do you think? certainly, it is part of the progression of north korea improving its capabilities. it is showing, evermore, it is able to reach the united states and therefore believing it has a deterrent capability to prevent the united states, as it believes, from perhaps conducting some sort of a regime change operation. is the us in him and in danger? i don't think so. what you have going on is deterrent on both sides. we have, for years, beenin on both sides. we have, for years, been in the goal of trying to deter north korea of a korean war style event. that has been successful for over 60 years. i am expecting that will be continue to be successful. in return, north korea is trying to deter others. so we have deterrence going from both sides of the strategic equation and the key will be to be able to maintain some sort of strategic stab

from seoul, here's our correspondent karen allen.tured the final moments before the missile launch. a potent symbol of north korea's defiance in the face of international sanctions. its leader kim jong—un there to witness it all. then the dramatic lift—off. and the moment that pyongyang thumbed its nose at the world. the second launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile in less than a month. it travelled higher and further than the missile fired before, eventually smashing down into the ocean off the coast of japan. then came the official confirmation from pyongyang. the newsreader announcing that this test was proof that the whole of the us is now within reach. pictures show a triumphant north korean leader. in washington, president trump described the tests as reckless and dangerous. the reaction from north korea's neighbour in the south was equally harsh. translation: dashing the international community's hopes of eased inter—korean military tensions and in particular, seoul's offer of bilateral military talks. these joint us

seoul is a very short way, south korea, from the border there were all this artillery is amassed. >>ana: and millions of people living there. >> exactly. population in the seoul area estimated at 10 million, and if you count the whole region, many millions more. this is a very vulnerable situation, and we simply don't have the armament, that i know of, that would be capable of -- we could take out a lot of their artillery, no doubt, but whether we could prevent a devastating attack on seoul is a question that has been answered in the negative every time i have ever heard it asked. >> dana: certainly been talking about it this week. we'll be checking in with you. brit hume, so thank you so muc. world leaders gather in germany for that g20 summit we were just talking about. president trump arriving in poland just hours ago ahead of the g20, and a day of meetings that could provide a reset of sorts with europe. tensions running high as the president gears up for what could be his most important foreign leader meeting to date, a face-to-face with vladimir putin. chief white house corresp

karen allen, bbc news, seoul. pension scheme for british universities has revealed that its deficit has doubled in just 12 months, to a record figure of more than £17 billion. president trump names retired military generaljohn kelly as his new chief of staff after reince priebus stood down from the post. north korea says its latest missile test proves the whole of the us mainland is within range of its weapons. let's get the sport now. rain affect play at the oval today as england faced south africa in the third test. but there's still been enough time for toby roland—jones to take five wickets on his test debut. the middlesex seamer took the wicket of temba bavuma as the tourists were dismissed forjust 175. as expected the weather took a turn for the worse after lunch, and in that time alistair cook became the only home wicket to fall. the day's play was abandoned because of rain — england will start tomorrow morning on 7a for one, a lead of 252 runs. if we can get up towards a 400 run lead, in reasonable time, w

from seoul, our correspondent, karen allen, sent this report.s bombers dominated the sky as tensions mount over the korean peninsula, escorted by fighterjets, as part of a drill, it was seen asa direct response to north korean aggression. and the us president is blaming china for letting it get there far. taking to twitter he said: but china also condemned friday's second intercontinental missile test. this powerful rocket flew faster and further than the one before. experts believe north korea's nuclear and missile capability is growing stronger by the day. and so it seems is kim jong—un‘s hunger to be heard. north korea's young leader. the north korean side is sending a message to the united states. the missiles are aiming at the united states and so we are going to talk to you, not to korea. morejoint military exercises, a sign that force is not being ruled out, but pressure is mounting for a diplomatic solution. a pre—emptive strike could destabilise the entire region, but how long is washington prepared to wait? here in seoul, south korea d

suburb of seoul. the dmz is as close to seoul as dulles airport is to washington, d.c. >> yeah. there's no reaction time there, literally, to a strike. >> yeah. they would be the first victims and the japanese the second. that's why they're very concerned about hostile rhetoric coming out of this white house, because it only makes the tension greater and seems only to, you know, get kim jong-un to double down on his nuclear and missile development programs. >> i suppose there is always the risk of misunderstanding, too, escalation. >> absolutely. we don't understand each other very well to begin with. absolutely, that's a real risk. >> congressman, stay with us. we have the advantage of more time, much more to discuss to talk about president trump's meeting with vladimir putin a more conventional sit-down. we'll talk about that after this break. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ...you realize the smartest investing idea, isn't just what you invest in, but who you invest with. ♪ finding the best hotel price is now a safe bet

paula joins from seoul. hello. >> hello natalie. well we've heard on thursday in hamburg from the south korean president moon when it comes to north korea really outlining his policy what he thinks should happen. he is proengagement, pro diplomacy, dialogue with north korea. but since that icbm launch earlier this week he had been pushing for stronger sanctions alongside the united states. but what we heard in this think tank speech was that he said if the conditions are right and if north korea looks like they want to ease sanctions -- ease tensions then he would be willing to meet kim jong un anywhere at any time. he also said he has no wish to see the collapse of north korea. and he won't be pushing for any kind of unification by absorption really putting forth a proengagement the policy with north korea. further for the of the dmz the border between the north korea. we saw grand celebrations after the icbm launch in north korea. many of the top leadership of the regime. we saw many of the scientists involved in in icbm launch sh

jeanette maki is in seoul, south korea with more. good morning, janice. >> good morning. there is no question that this latest test by north korea was significant. raising the stakes not only for regional security but for the trump administration which has made little progress in dealing with the north. this flew 620 miles at an altitude of 2300. if its trajectory was flattened, it could be capable of reaching cities within the united states, places like san francisco, denver, even miami. it does stress an urgency to come up with options. so far, there have been few. today, there was video from north korea state media and also statements from kim jong-un saying his weapons assets can't be bartered for anything. his goal is to teach the united states some manners. this icbm has been something that north korea has promised or warned for years. the goal is to be able to show the capability of delivering a nuclear warhead to the united states. this is something that the defense intelligence agency just last week warned could happen within a year. the question is, as ever, wha

we have it covered from hamburg, washington, moscow, and seoul. good morning, and welcome to "early start." i'm christine romans. >> i'm miguel marquez. it is friday, july 7th, 4:00 a.m. here on the east coast. it's one of the most eagerly anticipated meetings of world leaders in decades. this morning president trump sits down with russian president vladimir putin as the g20 summit gets underway in germany. their bilateral meeting comes just a day after president trump said russia should stop its destabilizing activities. minutes later refused to conclude that russia meddled in the u.s. election. >> new cnn reporting this morning says russia has even stepped up its spying efforts in the u.s. more in a moment. >>> for the latest, let's turn to the white house correspondent covering this for us, sara murray, live in hamburg. president trump meets putin face to face in just a few hours. it will be fascinating to see the optics of this meeting. >> reporter: yes, it is a very highly anticipated and will be closely scrutinized. this is expected to be a

i think there will be relief in seoul. new policy, extending the arm to open military negotiations with pyongyang, which have not been responded to officially. but he has made it clear that the door is open. at the same time, they are pursuing a policy of sanctions. so, the news out of washington overnight will be very welcome here in seoul. also on capitol hill, the us senate has voted narrowly to proceed with a debate on repealing president obama's flagship health policy — the affordable care act. with senators deadlocked fifty—fifty, the vice—president, mike pence, cast a tie—breaking vote. president trump has said he is disappointed with the us attorney general, jeff sessions, and warned that time will tell about his future. during a white house news conference, mr trump described mr sessions' decision, to distance himself from the inquiry into whether russia influenced last year's us election campaign, iam i am disappointed in the attorney general. he should have reduced himself almost immediately after he took office

how will seoul respond to this?eter: moon has announced there anti-ballistic missile test drills with the u.s.. they have considered other options, including increasing sanctions. asterday, they convened national security council, likely to have another meeting today, considering the missile has been confirmed as an icbm by the u.s. a lot of reaction happening today. we expect the markets to move on this news. whenrday in the afternoon north korea said they had , thessfully tested in icbm korean stock market declines. we expect that to happen today, as well. betty: we did see the korean stock market, the kospi, fall a little over 0.5%. is it surprising it did not fall further, given the pretty significant change in events here, peter? initially, most folks probably thought it was in intermediate missile test. that has happened friesen -- frequently. markets have not reacted to those because they have often happened, they have been frequent. later in the afternoon yesterday, when news broke out this was likely an icb

karen allen is watching the situation from seoul and gave us this update. from president been here. we mentioned the live firing exercise that had happened. they happen pretty swiftly after the firing of the missile. —— president moon. it is a bottler we saw a month ago, because of course is missile testis ago, because of course is missile test is the same type of missile that we sought tested on the fourth ofjuly. it is an intercontinental ballistic missile. president moon here also tried to put pressure to speed up the rollout of the missile defence shield here. that is a controversial project. china has been particularly concerned about that because of worries about spying capacity. but nevertheless, president moon has been concealed in the past, but indicated that need to be speeded up quickly. —— conciliatory. we had a meeting of the night of the national security council here in seoul. and wheels are heard from president moon saying that the un security council must 110w that the un security council must now quicken the pace of trying to have a fresh

when i was in seoul the other day i saw how tense it was, but i was on the subway in seoul and you realisep it is, it's very deep for a reason, it's not just is, it's very deep for a reason, it's notjust the engineering required, it's a place of shelter where people would have to go in the event of these artillery pieces being used and south koreans always say in the first few days of an artillery exchange with north korea, hundreds of thousands could die. we had better move on. i've been looking forward to this, it's not often i can say is sweet dreams, darling, but that's the name of these two pandas. they are sweet dream and darling, as you say, and they are two special furry ambassadors for diplomacy. people say this is the soft face of china, hand over the pandas and see... i hadn't realised until i read this that the berlin zoo pays an annual fee of i that the berlin zoo pays an annual fee ofi million euros to get the loa n fee ofi million euros to get the loan of these pandas because you only ever get loaned pandas. loan of these pandas because you only ever get loaned pandaslj susp

just two weeks after north korea's intercontinental ballistic missile test, seoul has proposed military talks with pyonyang. and this video is trending on bbc.com. saudi arabia is investigating the woman who posted this footage of herself wearing a miniskirt and crop—top in public, defying the country's strict dress code. it's sparked a heated debate, with some saying she should be arrested, while others are praising her bravery. that's all from me for now. stay with bbc news. and the top story here in the uk. schools in england are to get an extra 1.3 billion pounds over the next two years but the money will come from savings elsewhere in the education budget. some head—teachers have warned of staff cuts to make ends meet. labour's welcomed the extra money, but says it's not enough. now on bbc news, all the latest business news live from singapore. netflix beats expectations by adding more than 5 million new users, but what about the bottomline? and, grexit talks. the european union is asking for one thing, clarity. good morning, asia, hello, world. i'm glad you could join us. netflix

so million people live in seoul. so when people say it's a small regime, the united states is a superpower, there's something that can be done, that's not necessarily the case because of the risks involved. >> the risks are different. the united states, they look at any military could escalate into a conflict on the peninsula. for the chinese, they're worried about that border, if there are more economic sanctions, if use disrupt the civil society inside north korea, you could have people surging across that border into china which they don't want. >> they also don't want the regime, they don't want a unified korea. they don't want that. so what does president trump do when he gets off the plane. you mentioned the president of south korea and the prime minister of japan will also be at this meeting, so they can have regional metings. >> i think the pressure is maybe next on if there's a sanctions or if there's a u.n. kind of solution that, you know, involves conversations with china and russia and getting their veto

>> paula han cox in seoul thanks so much. president trump scolded kim jong-un with a statement he put out on twitter. the president once again called on china to ramp up pressure on north korea and all of this as he prepares to travel to germany for the g20 summit where he'll meet face to face with world leaders including for the first time with vladimir putin, this could reshape the global political landscape. suzanne malveaux live at the white house with the latest. >> reporter: good morning, john. north korea's aggression testing this president, putting pressure on him to see how he will respond, whether or not he will escalate the tension between the countries. at the same time he is also encouraging and pushing china for a much bigger role in confronting the north korean threat. president trump defiant in his response to north korea's 11th missile launch this year, competing about north korea leader kim jong-un. "does this guy have anything better to do with his life? hard to believe that south korea and japan will put u

going the way we plan but optics will look good or do we “— plan but optics will look good or do we —— seoulway things are, or are do we do what is needed? garside but after six months, that is very worrying that the president is having to press the reset button after six months. and he has not delivered policies... key is to a lot more about things you want necessarily see, for instance, the denial of revelations, the economy is doing better. but the people look at the guide... —— the cutting down of regulations. the important thing is the stuff that came in, remember, he doesn't have a political background, these weren't his staff, they would recommend it. they are good people but they don't have his vision and they don't understand. scaramucci, whatever you want to say about the guy, he is a fellow new yorker, he understands he's a fellow businessman, he understands a sense of urgency and how the president thinks. and if the president tweets instead of going, or, my gosh, it's never been done like that, scaramucci says, i'm here to serve him. all his military man and robust people he surr

in seoul, south korea. wherever you're watching from around the world, thanks very much for joining us. >>> we start with a new push from the white house calling it made in america week. like past theme week, the white house looking to change the narrative from the multiple russia story angles to more controllable demoefk and foreign policy issues, but president trump still took time out at least this morning to start tweeting once again. this is what he tweeted. "most politicians would have gone to a meeting like the one don junior attended in order to get info on an opponent. that's politics." go to our senior washington were correspondent joe johns over at the white house right now. joe, do we know anything more about when the president's son may actually speak with congressional investigators? >> reporter: wolf, at the moment sounds like a holding pattern from what we've been able to gather. what we do know is that for the senate judiciary committee, a lot of this is about the foreign registration act a

seoul is 35 miles from the dmz. north korea has thousands of artillery units pointed at south korea's capital. south korea released a video simulating an attack on north korea. when asked why the pentagon did not shoot the missile down, a pentagon spokesman said the u.s. military did not employ an elaborate missile defense shield because it did not threaten the u.s. homeland. what worries u.s. officials is this two-stage missile was able to reenter the earths atmosphere and now has the range to hit alaska. the u.s. has dozens of interceptor missiles at bases in alaska and california to shoot down a rogue north korean missile in outer space. the navy has one less tool and its defense shield arsenal after the uss fitzgerald collided with a cargo ship. the fitzgerald has advanced radar and missiles that could be used to shoot down a ballistic missile. the navy's last test to shoot out a missile from a warship on june 22nd failed when the missile missed the target but the u.s. missile defense agency carried out a succes

seoul is just across the border from north korea. >> what type of threat is there for them? retired colonel says there's thousands of conventional missile ace long the border there. the test days ago was a ballistic missile capable of reaching the u.s. raising more concerns about nuclear conflict. >> what do we need to keep in mind of how severe that could e be? >> i think it's farfetched to get the idea of nuclear proliferation into their minds, which would nigh late whatever it struck. >> they are hoping for a diplomatic solution to the tensions. >> are you worry ied about military conflict reaching the u.s.? >> i don't think so. >> there's an eminent threat for south korea. for the rest of the world, north korea is several years away from being able to load a nuclear war head on a missile, but he says there's a need to learn the consequences in a wakeup call. >> stay tuned for "nbc nightly news" for trump's latest promise on the north korean threat. that's right after this newscast. >>> new tonight, a bucks county teacher is charged with having sex with a student. he taug

>> live in seoul.from north korea coming ahead of president trump's second overseas trip. he departs for europe tomorrow for the g-20 summit. the president's meeting with vladimir putin may no longer be the main attraction. cnn's nic robertson live from abu dhabi for us. meetings between the president and several asian leaders now very much under the microscope. >> reporter: absolutely. president trump already planned to have a trilateral meeting with the south koreans and the japanese on the margins of the g-20ment sharper focus now -- of the g-20. sharper focus now. what is he going to say to xi jinping of china to get his support? he talks about hoping a move on north korea to sort this out. the reality is, you know, president trump and xi jinping, their relationship has tanked over the last few days. talk of steel dumping, trade tensions, and that's the sort of lowest on the scale. sanctions on a chinese bank for not enforcing sanctions on north korea. selling $1.4 billion worth of weapons to taiwa

because we had to scream now to against those rigidity and the lack of seoul the republican in have created of leadership. >> you have written this book you have written some amendments to the constitution?. >> i forgot what they were now. >>. >> best said is a very good example. >>, the time but nothing ever changes. but then to make their case known. every legislate toward in washington to be indebted. so when does anything change in this country? in to understand i have been traveling and i don't know what is happening the wan will the people rise up? with the quality of our lives?. >> is being threatened. >> there is no sense to continue. >> swear digit active in politics? three active during the '70s?. >> yes. live been a progressive for a liberal all my life collet would every like and i have identified but i did make one of advanced sub data called himself a democratic socialist and to garner a lot of votes in a lot of people regret it but that is the first with the name a socialist is attached and i am speaking of you know, who. >> were you a supporter of bernie sanders?. >> yes. an

our correspondent is in seoul tonight with the very latest. >> reporter: tonight, striking new images released by north korea. allegedly showing the intercontinental ballistic missile that could put major u.s. cities in striking range. cameras in northern japan capturing video of the missile. falling into the sea just 230 miles off the coast. the videos have not been independently verified by nbc news. the late night launch supervise called the missile t could h as peopl streets of p weeks, there is new n deliver a nuclear because he his technology in yesterday, have sparked what appears to be an arms race. rival south korea saying the latest launch of a missile which could reach the u.s., may trigger fundamental change in the security of the entire region. our correspondent is in seoul tonight with the very latest. >> reporter: tonight, striking new images released by north korea. allegedly showing the intercontinental ballistic missile that could put major u.s. cities in striking range. cameras in northern japan capturing video of the missile. falling into the sea just 230 miles off

seoul is very close to the north korean border. horea has rocket artillery trained on seoul. so the price would be very high. james mattis said it would be unlike war we've seen in decades. so pressure on china, economic sanctions, the possibility of talks. where does that lead in the end? the world recognizing north korea is a nuclear power and contain north korea. that's remarkable, as well. >> acceptance is not something a lot of diplomats are willing to deal with. jim sciutto, thank you very much. >>> perspective now from someone who dealt with kim jong-un's father, william cohen, former republican senator, currently ceo of the firm the cohen group. thank you for being with us. when you hear the commander of u.s. forces in the korean peninsula say that self-restraint is all that is preventing war, that sounds pretty terrifying to a lot of people. how long do you believe this self-restraint can or should last? >> it's been lasting for some time now. the north has been engaged in provocative action for years, building its nuclear

we are in seoul, south korea with the latest. >> reporter: the u.s. has denounced this latest test, but with every success that north korea has, the stakes ramp higher for regional security and for the trump administration, which to this point has had very little progress in the way of options to try and contain the north. this latest icbm flew 620 miles at an all the tud of 2,300 miles. experts say it would be capable of reaching several cities in the united states, places like denver, san francisco. this is exactly what north korea has been promising or warning of for years. kim jong-un tested 14 times so far this year, so his program is being accelerated toward the goal of being able to show the capability of having a nuclear warhead reach the united states. today north korea's state media released video of the test last night and several statements from kim jong-un warning the united states that if it continues to brandish the nuclear stick on the peninsula, north korea will teach it some manners. here in south korea, defense officials unveiled vi

seoul is very close to the north korean border. north korea has rockets and artillery trained on seoul. so, the price of a u.s. or international military strike would be very high. james mattis said it would be unlike war we've seen in decades. because of that, the actual options will be familiar to ones that everybody listening tonight have been tried before. so pressure on china, economic sanctions, the possibility of talks. where does that lead in the end? the reality that's approaching, the world recognizing north korea is a nuclear power and contain north korea. that's a remarkable and alarming reality, as well. >> that's what richard haass calls acceptance. acceptance is not something a lot of diplomats are willing to deal with. jim sciutto, thank you very much. >>> perspective now from someone who dealt with kim jong-un's father, william cohen, former republican senator, currently ceo of the firm the cohen group. mr. secretary, thank you for being with us. when you hear the commander of u.s. forces in the korean peninsula sa

, are we ready to defend because it doesn't take nuclear weapons to destroy seoul. more importantly, how can we defend okinawa where there are a bunch of u.s. bases there? how can we do that? it's -- it's a military question. thanks. >> hand the mike to that guy right there. three seats over. general sharp? >> to general sharp -- >> so the defense of seoul counts upon the combined forces of the republic of korea and the united states. and what korea has along the border that's organized there to do counter-battery fire, the air forces there in the republic of korea and from the united states, if today north korea started immediately pulling the laniards and artillery rounds started coming in, there would be great damage in seoul. we would relatively quickly be able to destroy that artillery through ground, air, and naval fire. i don't want to minimize it, but there are very solid plans, solid capabilities to quickly react to any sort of artillery coming into seoul that are very well rehearsed many, many times. it would be the end of kim jong-un if he started that. i

civilians, 28,000 american troops who are stationed there, seoul is situated just a few dozen milesth of the border of north korea. and even though the border between north and south is technically a demilitarized zone, north korea has been stocking up militarily on its side for a long time now. they've deployed nearly 70% of their ground forces within 60 miles of their border, as well as half of the north korean air force. they've also got thousands of artillery cannons and rocket launchers stationed on the border directly facing south korea and facing seoul. in april, north korea demonstrated its artillery might off its eastern coastline in the largest live artillery drill north korea has ever conducted. the world is focused on the threat of a nuclear armed, rather nutty north korea. but north korea doesn't need to use its dozen or so nuclear weapons if it wants to kill tens of thousands, potentially hundreds of thousands of civilians, before the u.s. or anybody else could eventually shut down their capacity to do so. and that geographical fact is the real life irreducible militar

plus 25 million south koreans around seoul. plus their new long-range missile is mobile. just finding it to take it out is almost impossible. >> by putting a missile on the back of this massive wheeled truck, they can move the missile around and catch us off guard. >> reporter: another illegal option, assassination, using u.s. special forces and, if that fails -- >> when we use regime change, that's the number one trigger that would cause the use of a nuclear weapon by kim jong-un. >> reporter: then there is a cyber attack sabotaging future missile launches. the u.s. did that to iran's nuclear program. or a naval blockade if china would cooperate. but today the president tweeting, trade between china and north korea grew almost 40% in the first quarter. so much for china working with us. we had to give it a try. the most likely option, dialing up the economic pressure on china to take action against north korea, but china is refusing. and finally there is a diplomatic option the u.s. has been resisting -- negotiating with the rogue regime. savannah? >> andrea mitchell in