SEOUL/WASHINGTON (REUTERS) – North Korea said on Sunday it is “ready to sink” a US aircraft carrier with “a single strike” in a latest sign of rising tensions. The North’s state media said this to demonstrate its military might as two Japanese navy ships joined USS Carl Vinson carrier Strike Group for exercises in the western Pacific.
Tensions are rising as President Trump prepares to call leaders of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese PM Shinzo Abe. The US ordered the Navy carrier USS Carl Vinson Strike Group to sail off the Korean Peninsula in response to mounting concern over North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests, and its threats to attack the United States and its Asian allies.
USS Carl Vinson in the high seas is joined by the Japanese for drills. Credit: US Navy
The US government has not specified where the carrier strike group is at as it approaches the area. US Vice President Mike Pence who is currently in Asia on a 10-day official visit to the region said on Saturday it would arrive “within days” but gave no other details.
North Korea remained defiant.
“Our revolutionary forces are combat-ready to sink a US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier with a single strike,” the Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of the North’s ruling Workers’ Party said in a commentary.
The paper likened the aircraft carrier to a “gross animal” and said a strike on it would be an “actual example to show our military force.”
The threatening commentary was carried on page 3 of the newspaper, after a 2-page feature about leader Kim Jong-Un inspecting a pig farm.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un seen visiting a pig farm while also threatening to strike US aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson. Credit: KCNA via KNS/AFP
In n another sign of the intense focus on Pyongyang in Washington, the White House is expected to host U.S. senators for a top-level briefing on North Korea on Wednesday, a White House official said.
The official said the briefing would be led by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and Marine General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
U.S. and South Korean officials have been saying for weeks the North could soon stage another nuclear test, something the United States, China and others have warned against.
South Korea has put its forces on heightened alert.
China, North Korea’s sole major ally, opposes Pyongyang’s weapons programs and has appealed for calm. The United States has called on China to do more to help defuse the tension.
Speaking during a visit to Greece, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said there were already enough shows of force and confrontation and appealed for calm.
U.S. Citizen Detained
62-year old Ki Dong Chul, a Korean American was detained in 2016 and sentenced to 10 years in prison with hard labour. North Korea detained another US Citizen on Sunday. Credit: AP
Adding to the tensions, North Korea detained a Korean-American man in his 50s, bringing the total number of U.S. citizens held by Pyongyang to three.
The man, Tony Kim, had been in North Korea for a month teaching accounting at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST), the institution’s chancellor, Chan-Mo Park, told Reuters. He was arrested at Pyongyang International Airport on his way out of the country.
The arrest took place on Saturday morning local time, the university said in a statement, and was “related to an investigation into matters that are not connected in any way to PUST”.
North Korea will mark the 85th anniversary of the foundation of its Korean People’s Army on Tuesday.
It has in the past marked important anniversaries with tests of its weapons.
North Korea often marks its important celebrations with nuclear tests as a show of strength and to prove its military might. Credit: AFP/Getty Images
North Korea has conducted five nuclear tests, two of them last year, and is working to develop nuclear-tipped missiles that can reach the United States.
It has also carried out a series of ballistic missile tests in defiance of U.N. sanctions.
North Korea’s growing nuclear and missile threat is perhaps the most serious security challenge confronting Trump.
He has vowed to prevent the North from being able to hit the United States with a nuclear missile and has said all options are on the table, including a military strike.
Worry In Japan
Japanese navy ships have joined up with the USS Carl Vinson Navy Carrier Strike Group for joint exercises in the Peninsula and to accompany them amidst threats from North Korea to target the ships with nuclear strikes. Credit: AFP/Gety Images
North Korea says its nuclear program is for self-defense and has warned the United States of a nuclear attack in response to any aggression. It has also threatened to lay waste to South Korea and Japan.
The U.S. defense secretary said on Friday that North Korea’s recent statements were provocative but had proven to be hollow in the past and should not be trusted.
“We’ve all come to hear their words repeatedly; their word has not proven honest,” Mattis told a news conference in Tel Aviv, before the latest threat to the aircraft carrier.
Two Japanese warships, the Samidare and Ashigara, left western Japan on Friday to join the Carl Vinson and will “practice a variety of tactics” with the U.S. strike group, the Japan Maritime Self Defence Force said in a statement.
The Japanese force did not specify where the exercises were taking place, but the destroyers by Sunday could have reached an area 2,500 km (1,500 miles) south of Japan, which would be east of the Philippines.
From there, it could take three days to reach waters off the Korean peninsula. Japan’s ships would accompany the Carl Vinson north at least into the East China Sea, a source with knowledge of the plan said.
Map indicating Military build as tensions with North Korea rises.
Two Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyers left Sasebo port in southern Japan on Friday to join the Vinson strike group.
The US group also includes a guided-missile cruiser and a guided-missile destroyer.
The Navy called the exercise ‘routine’ and said it is designed to improve combined maritime response and defense capabilities, as well as joint maneuvering proficiency.
The Vinson group has conducted three previous bilateral exercises with the Japanese navy since leaving San Diego on January 5 for a western Pacific deployment.
Two Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyers left Sasebo port in southern Japan on Friday to join the Vinson strike group.
The US group also includes a guided-missile cruiser and a guided-missile destroyer.
The Navy called the exercise ‘routine’ and said it is designed to improve combined maritime response and defense capabilities, as well as joint maneuvering proficiency.
North Korea’s continued missile launches and nuclear tests has the region on edge. Credit: Xinhua/Rex/Shutterstock
The Vinson group has conducted three previous bilateral exercises with the Japanese navy since leaving San Diego on January 5 for a western Pacific deployment.
Japan’s show of naval force reflects growing concern that North Korea could strike it with nuclear or chemical warheads.
Some Japanese ruling party lawmakers are urging Abe to acquire strike weapons that could hit North Korean missile forces before any imminent attack.
Japan’s navy, which is mostly a destroyer fleet, is the second largest in Asia after China’s.
This message, which was one of three delivered Saturday, echoed the message delivered by a top official at the massive ‘Day of the Sun’ military parade in Pyongyang earlier this month.
North Korea appears to have resumed work at its nuclear test site in Punggye-ri, in the northeastern part of the country, the New York Times reports.
Reuters
