North Korea holds military exercise as US nuclear sub reaches South Korea

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As the carrier group drills continued, the USS Michigan arrived in the South Korean port of Busan on Tuesday, the U.S. Navy said.

A US guided-missile nuclear submarine arrived in South Korea on Tuesday - the 85th anniversary of North Korea's founding of its military - in the latest show of force by the United States amid surging tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Tensions with North Korea continued to escalate as the communist state conducted artillery drills today (April 25) while a USA submarine armed with cruise missiles docked at a South Korean base.

Ahead of today's 85 anniversary of Korean People's Army, there was concern that the North would mark the occasion with a nuclear or ballistic missile test, as it has in the past.

"Our great leaders founded and wisely led our revolutionary army, and just like that, now our respected Marshal Kim Jong Un is leading wisely, so even though the situation is tense, we are celebrating the day", said Choe Un Byol, who had come with his family to the bronze statues of the former leaders.

The trio also agreed that China and Russian Federation should play a bigger role in reining in the North, said Kim Hong-Kyun, South Korea's chief envoy on the issue.

Separately the entire US Senate has been called to a rare briefing on the perceived threat in the White House on Wednesday.

Trump sent the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group for exercises off the Korean peninsula as a warning to North Korea and a show of solidarity with USA allies. "We'll continue to work very closely among the three of us together as well as with our worldwide partners".

North Korea's official media said early Wednesday that leader Kim Jong Un personally observed the exercises.

The North is also believed to be preparing for a sixth nuclear weapons test.

The two ships are part of what's a growing show of USA naval forces around Asia as North Korea threatens to test more of its missiles and even sink an aircraft carrier. This would give controllers on the ground nearly a minute to "initiate the kill chain" and debris would drop harmlessly into the sea, or on North Korean territory.

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In Tokyo, meanwhile, chief negotiators from the U.S., Japan and South Korea also gathered to coordinate their policies on Pyongyang, with Washington pressing for further sanctions against the communist country.

Trump said he was sending an "armada" to North Korea, and other senior officials also strongly implied that the strike group was heading to the Korean Peninsula area.

China's push to use its trading clout to hurt North Korea is starting to be felt as new figures show a sharp drop in imports.

With tensions on the Korean Peninsula already on a knife-edge, the USA has dispatched the nuclear-powered submarine, the USS Michigan to the region.

Two Japanese destroyers have joined the carrier group for exercises.

He spoke about the threat again this week with Chinese President Xi Jinping, part of an effort to pressure North Korea's top ally into curbing vital food and fuel supplies.

As Tuesday's military exercises with South Korea and Japan show, the United States is remaining in lock-step with its allies in the region.

"The stakes are much higher - the U.S. believes that it is facing a critical juncture where North Korea is about to obtain a nuclear capability against the United States homeland", Zhao said.

Washington and Seoul agreed to early deployment of the missile defence system after talks earlier this month between the South's acting president and visiting US Vice President Mike Pence.

Trump reinforced the threat yesterday when he met with the ambassadors of members of the UN Security Council, declaring that the status quo in North Korea was "unacceptable".

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