Xi urges restraint on N. Korea in phone call with Trump

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said in an interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” on Sunday that a North Korean nuclear missile capable of striking the USA would be a “grave threat” and anticipated North Korea could achieve this capability before Trump would begin his second term. By escalating tensions and hoping that the US will back down, the North Korean regime probably takes into account the opportunity to cause doubt among South Koreans whether the USA will really come to its aid in the event of a crisis.

In a statement released late Friday, North Korea’s Foreign Ministry accused Trump of driving the region into an “extremely unsafe phase” with his sending of the aircraft carrier and said the North was ready to stand up against any kind of threated posed by the United States.

According to South Korean news agency Yonhap, Mr Kim had also been involved in an aid programme for children in rural parts of North Korea.

“I can say the South Korean and U.S. militaries are fully ready for North Korea’s nuclear test”, Mr Moon said.

“Our revolutionary forces are combat-ready to sink a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier with a single strike”, read a Sunday commentary in the Rodong Sinmun, the Workers’ Party newspaper.

In lieu of that, Pyongyang may test another missile.

“They are working with us on North Korea”. South Korea and Japan have lived under the shadow of North Korean missiles for years. The director of a Seoul-based group called the World North Korea Research Centre said his sources in Pyongyang confirmed the arrest.

After dozens of missile tests and five underground nuclear explosions, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un seems to be getting the attention and respect he has always craved. At the moment, therefore, the continental United States is still beyond the striking distance of North Korean missiles.

The day before, North Korea made a show of what it claims are advances in its rocket technology.

President Trump was scheduled on Monday to host members of the United Nations Security Council at the White House, and North Korea will undoubtedly be a major point of discussion.

Indeed, it may have been the best result possible for North Korea.

Negotiations have also gotten nowhere. (The multiple, hidden locations of nuclear and missile sites protected by surface-to-air missiles render surgical air strikes ineffective and incomplete). The US war exercises in the region, and US-South Korea forces moving closer to China’s doorstep may not augur well given China’s sensitivity over South China Sea.

“He said they hit it off during their first discussion”.

Uneasy tensions between North Korea and the rest of the region are likely to remain as the rogue state continues to dish out threats of nuclear attacks. On the one hand, being the main trade partner of the small and isolated North Korean economy, China does have a measure of leverage and influence.

“He was prevented from getting on the flight out of Pyongyang”, Aberg said. Hyeon Soo Lim, a South Korean-born Canadian citizen in his 60s, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 2015 on charges of trying to use religion to destroy the North Korean system and helping US and South Korean authorities lure and abduct North Korean citizens.

A 10-day swing through four Pacific Rim nations is offering evidence that Pence has become one of Trump’s chief emissaries on the world stage, patching up relations, reassuring allies still wondering about Trump’s unpredictable ways and diving into worldwide crises like North Korea. Indications are rife as Trump had to call President Xi Jinping on 12th April 2017, just days after latter’s return from US.