This morning North Korea had a full scale military exercise celebrating 85 years since the army was established according to South Korean media reports. The exercise included use of live ammunition.
CNN last night announced that a US nuclear sub would come into South Korea today and reports are it already is anchored there. A military source was quoted saying the reason for the sub’s presence was to show power as tensions mount between the U.S and North Korea.
In tandem with this, yesterday US media announced a White House briefing to take place today with all 100 senate members participating to get updated on the North Korean situation. They will receive briefings from State Secretary Rex Tillerson, Defense Secretary James Mathis, National Intelligence Director Dan Coats and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford. Even though senior government officials often come for briefings on politics, foreign policy and security, this senate briefing is very uncommon.
President Trump said during a discussion with Security Council ambassadors that “North Korea is a big world problem.” For decades people looked the other way but “now is the time to solve the problem”. He forcefully stated that the UN Security Council must be prepared to issue new sanctions against North Korea. “The Status Quo with North Korea is unacceptable and the council must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions on the North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile programs,” Trump stated.
Official sources in the U.S. expressed worry about North Korea’s threat to do more nuclear testing, ballistic missile tests some which failed, and its threat to attack the U.S. and its Asian allies. Yesterday in a phone conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping, President Trump criticized North Korea and its recent aggressive actions.