Pentagon to test ability to shoot down North Korean missiles

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The North has said such launches are an act of deterrence against a potential invasion by the US or South Korea. The U.S.' trade deficit with Japan stood at nearly $69 billion past year.

"We are exploring a new range of diplomatic, security, and economic measures and all options are on the table", Pentagon spokesman Gary Ross said.

"The United States of America will always seek peace but under President Trump, the shield stands guard and the sword stands ready".

The U.S. military's Pacific Command announced on April 18 that the strike group had completed a shorter-than-initially scheduled training with Australia off its northwest coast.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov condemned North Korea's "reckless nuclear actions" in comments on April 17, but said he hoped the United States would not take "very risky" unilateral military action against Pyongyang.

In an interview in Wisconsin, the U.S. president complained that his predecessors should have dealt with North Korea's pursuit of a nuclear arsenal, but said he was in the position now where he was "going to have to do something about it".

It appears Trump and other US leaders are hoping China, long a patron of North Korea, will put pressure on dictator Kim Jong Un to back away from his military buildup.

Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have sharply spiked in recent weeks as Washington and Pyongyang have rattled their sabers against each other, with the United States ordering a massive aircraft carrier strike group to move to waters off the Korean Peninsula and the North responding with a missile launch attempt, even though it ended in failure.

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Tech companies claim that they can not hire enough American workers to fill the jobs they need, according to the New York Times. On April 18, the president traveled to Kenosha , Wisc., to visit the headquarters of American tool manufacturer Snap-on Inc.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has said he would expand America's nuclear arsenal to ensure it is at the "top of the pack" amid a heated war of words between the United States and North Korea. "That's what being undermined here with a president who thrives on unpredictability.it's going to eat away at the fundamental credibility of the USA role in Asia".

At a working lunch with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, the two leaders said they will urge China to do more to rein in Pyongyang, which launched a missile unsuccessfully on Sunday, a day after unveiling what appears to be new missiles. The country's United Nations envoy, Kim In Ryong, said this week that the US had pushed the Korean Peninsula to the "brink of war".

"I still don't think that China is going to put the kind of pressure that's necessary on North Korea", said Anthony Ruggiero of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

"We are with you 100%", he said, adding that the USA "always seeks peace".

Sadayuki Sakakibara, chairman of Japan's largest business lobby Keidanren, described a meeting Pence held with business leaders before the speech as "truly meaningful".

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence has arrived in Japan for the second stop of a 10-day Asia tour. But Japan rejected the idea of starting bilateral trade negotiations, the Asahi Shimbun reported last week. If the US can't effectively shoot down North Korea's test missiles, it could embolden Kim Jong-un's regime.

Earlier in Seoul, Mr Pence said at an American Chamber of Commerce meeting that Washington will review and reform a five-year-old trade deal with South Korea to narrow its trade deficit.

White House officials say the meetings in Tokyo are meant to forge a framework for future discussions after the USA withdrew from a Pacific Rim trade pact.

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