Entire US Senate to go to White House for North Korea briefing

Beijing on February 18 imposed a total halt on coal imports from the North until the end of 2017, hardening its stance after a new missile test by Pyongyang, in line with new sanctions adopted by the UN Security Council.

The top US commander in the Pacific tells Congress the United States may need to strengthen its missile defenses, particularly in Hawaii, given the advancing threat from North Korea’s missile and nuclear weapons programs. What we’re seeing is that Kim Jong-Un is really trying to show his strength to the people of North Korea, ‘ Haley said.

Mattis, Tillerson, Coats and Dunford are expected to brief House members at the Capitol. The meeting is set to take place in a secure auditorium in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building, which would allow Trump himself to drop into the briefing.

The briefing will take place at 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT). He suggested last week that Mr. Trump was considering force against North Korea – perhaps without explicit congressional approval – but said Tuesday that the Senate meeting will be more broadly focused.

“I think we want to make sure we’ve got the votes and are headed in the right direction before putting some kind of artificial deadline”.

Toner at the State Department told reporters he was not aware of any diplomatic access to the American.

The recent spike in confrontational rhetoric between the two sides has caused concern in nearby South Korea and Japan.

On Tuesday, North Korea held major live-fire drills in an area around the eastern coastal town of Wonsan as it marked the anniversary of the founding of its military.

“I’m not so sure he’s so strong like he says he is, I’m not so sure at all”, he said, according to an attendee.

The administration has backed the assertion by shifting more US military assets, including the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier battle group, toward the Korean Peninsula.

A land mine blast, which Seoul blamed on North Korea, maimed two South Korean soldiers in 2015.

North Korea’s nuclear capabilities, and particularly its threat to neighboring countries, pose a challenging threat for the United States to grapple with.

China’s call came in a phone conversation between President Xi Jinping and President Donald Trump on Sunday.

“These briefings are always, always, always done in the SCIF up here”, one Senate aide, who was not authorized to talk on the record and so spoke on the condition of anonymity, said Monday.

The Australian government recently said North Korea does not now have nuclear weapons capable of reaching Australia.

The briefing comes at a time of growing tensions between the United States and North Korea. Spicer’s first press conference – the one where he lied about the size of the Inauguration Day crowd and lashed out at the media for its “shameful” coverage of the event’s turnout – immediately turned him into the subject of viral memes and general ridicule on social media.