Vice President Mike Pence made a surprise visit to the demilitarised zone separating North and South Korea on Monday, amid rising tensions in the region over Kim Jong Un's belligerent actions.
The USS Carl Vinson, an American aircraft carrier, is moving toward the waters near the Korean Peninsula, and Donald Trump is even talking about the possibility of a military attack on North Korea, saying that "all options are on the table". But they also hide what's inside, so more analysis and guesswork from the parade display and future test launches will be required before conclusions are made about where North Korea's ICBM development really stands.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have ratcheted up in recent weeks, amid tit-for-tat saber-rattling from the USA and North Korea. In short, the US and North Korea are now engaged in a game of brinksmanship, a game with high stakes and no winners should some miscalculation be made that plunges the two parties into conflict.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-un presided but remained silent at celebrations In Pyongyang of the 105th anniversary of the birthday of Kim Il-sung, his grandfather and first leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK).
The North has said it has developed and would launch a missile that can strike the United States mainland, but officials and experts believe it is some time away from mastering the necessary technology, including miniaturising a nuclear warhead.
Large-scale annual exercises between the South Korean and US militaries will continue until the end of April, and North Korea will mark another important date - the anniversary of the foundation of the Korean People's Army - on April 25.
While the North did not conduct a nuclear test, the specter of a potential escalated USA response is trailing Pence as he undertakes a 10-day trip to Asia amid increasing tensions and heated rhetoric.
The threat of North Korea's missile program received a response by the U.S with the introduction of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense program, or THAAD, a missile defense system that will theoretically protect South Korean and American interests in the area.
$50000 reward in search for Facebook murder suspect Steve Stephens
One resident said Stephens was there two days ago fixing the home's garage. "He would give you the shirt off his back", he said. Then a handgun comes into view, a gunshot is heard, and moments later the victim is laying in a pool of blood.
Though North Korea didn't launch any missiles to mark the anniversary day, it did show them off in a military parade - and in a surprising number and variety.
Oh, but the president did have further comment regarding North Korea and China. On Thursday, the USA military said it had dropped "the mother of all bombs", the largest non-nuclear device it has ever unleashed in combat, on a network of caves and tunnels used by Islamic State in eastern Afghanistan.
His message came hours after a North Korean ballistic missile test failed.
The status of the North Korean underground nuclear test program is unchanged, a senior U.S. defense official told CNN, and a test could come at any time.
"We need to apply pressure on North Korea so they seriously respond to a dialogue" with the worldwide community, he said, urging China and Russian Federation to play more constructive roles on the issue. deforested stretch of North Korea from a lookout post in the hillside. "The President and his military team are aware of North Korea's most recent unsuccessful missile launch".
After a two-month policy review, the Trump administration settled on a policy dubbed "maximum pressure and engagement", US officials said Friday.
North Korea has conducted five nuclear tests, including two past year.
Comments