Pyongyang vowed to sink the USS Carl Vinson in what it described as a "show of military force," Reuters reported citing the the newspaper of the North's ruling Workers' Party.
The news comes as Japan sent two destroyers for drills with the US carrier group. Two Maritime Self-Defense Force ships have left the Sasebo naval base in Nagasaki to meet up with the USS Carl Vinson-led group for joint drills following fresh ballistic missile tests in North Korea, The Japan Times reported.
The Pentagon sent the naval group from Singapore toward North Korea earlier in April amid tensions on the Korean Peninsula. US President Donald Trump said an "armada" has been sent, but the date and time of the drill remains unknown.
After it turned out that the Carl Vinson deployed to deter North Korea did not reach the Sea of Japan reportedly because White House and Pentagon failed to communicate effectively and was spotted near Indonesia, it was reported that it will finally reach the Korean Peninsula later this month.
The armada's current location is unknown.
US Vice President Mike Pence said on Saturday that the Carl Vinson would arrive "within days" with no further details provided.
"Our revolutionary forces are combat-ready to sink a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier with a single strike," the Rodong Sinmun newspaper said as quoted by Reuters.
The North Korean newspaper called the aircraft carrier a "gross animal" and claimed a strike on it would be "an actual example to show our military's force".
Earlier, the North Korean General Staff threatened Washington with a "preemptive strike" in case of any "US' provocation;" it also vowed to strike US military bases in South Korea, Japan, the US itself and the Carl Vinson destroyer.
A third US citizen has been arrested and remains in custody in North Korea, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap. A man, a Korean-American professor in his 50s, identified by the surname Kim, had been in North Korea for a month to discuss relief activities and was detained at Pyongyang International Airport just as he was leaving North Korea, the agency reported.
The man was a former professor at Yanbian University of Science and Technology (YUST), Yonhap said, citing unnamed sources. YUST, a university in neighboring China, has a sister university in Pyongyang. An official at South Korea's National Intelligence Service said it was not aware of the reported arrest. The reason for his arrest is still unclear, and there has been no comment from the US authorities so far. South Korea’s spy agency, the National Intelligence Service, said it “was not aware” of Kim’s arrest, according to Yonhap.
North Korea, which has been criticized for its human rights record, has in the past used detained Americans to extract high-profile visits from the United States, with which it has no formal diplomatic relations. North Korea already holds two Americans. Ahn Chan-il, director of the World North Korea Research Center in Seoul, said that the North "seems to be intending to use professor Kim as leverage in negotiations" amid the current bad relations between the two countries.
Meanwhile, one day after North Korea lashed out at its biggest supporter in the region China, threatening Beijing with "catastrophic consequences" for siding with the U.S. over sanctions, North Korea said on Sunday it was ready to sink a U.S. aircraft carrier steaming toward the Korean penninsula to demonstrate its military might, as two Japanese navy ships joined a U.S. carrier group for exercises in the western Pacific.
"Our revolutionary forces are combat-ready to sink a U.S. 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 compared the aircraft carrier to a "gross animal" and said a strike on it would be "an actual example to show our military's force". The commentary was carried on page three of the newspaper, after a two-page feature about leader Kim Jong Un inspecting a pig farm.
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.
Additionally, as discussed previously, North Korea will mark the 85th anniversary of the foundation of its Korean People's Army on Tuesday when some speculate it may set off a nuclear test.
Donald Trump ordered the USS Carl Vinson carrier strike group to sail to waters off the Korean peninsula in response to rising tension over the North's nuclear and missile tests, and its threats to attack the United States and its Asian allies. The United States has not specified where the carrier strike group is as it approaches the area. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said on Saturday it would arrive "within days" but gave no other details.
Adding to the growing military tension in the region, 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 Defense Force said in a statement according to Reuters.
The Japanese force did not specify where the exercises were taking place, but by Sunday the destroyers 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. U.S. and South Korean officials have been saying for weeks that the North could soon stage another nuclear test, something the United States, China and others have warned against.
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 Prime Minister Shinzo 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.
South Korea has already 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. Last Thursday, Trump praised Chinese efforts to rein in "the menace of North Korea", after North Korean state media warned the United States of a "super-mighty pre-emptive strike".
North Korea declared in a series of statements Saturday that “U.S. muscle-flexing can never browbeat DPRK,” threatening “a nuclear war” against the U.S. if it is attacked.
“The DPRK will react to a total war with an all-out war, a nuclear war with nuclear strikes of its own and surely win a victory in the death-defying struggle against the U.S. imperialists,” a Foreign Ministry spokesman wrote in one of three missives, echoing the message delivered by a top official at a massive military parade in Pyongyang on April 15.
The Foreign Ministry spokesman accused Trump administration officials of “spouting a load of rubbish” and “seeking to bring nuclear aircraft carrier strike groups one after another to the waters off the Korean Peninsula,” an apparent reference to the impending arrival of the USS Carl Vinson carrier group to the region.
The recent escalation in tension will be front in center in Washington on Monday. Diplomatic sources tell CBS News that U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley will escort Security Council members to Washington for a series of meetings with members of Congress before heading to the White House for a photo-op and lunch with President Trump. The high-profile visit will give U.N. diplomats an unusually high level of access to the president.
The new threat comes in response to shows of force by the U.S. and its ally South Korea. Vice President Mike Pence declared “the era of strategic patience is over” on a recent trip to South Korea, where tens of thousands of U.S. troops are stationed. Haley told reporters on Tuesday that “we are not trying to pick a fight, so don’t try and give us one.” Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Wednesday that the Trump administration is reviewing whether to add North Korea to the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism.
On Thursday, the Security Council issued a strongly worded condemnation of North Korea over its latest missile test. The statement, negotiated by the U.S., included a call for “dialogue” with Pyongyang at the request of Russia. The non-binding statement was significant due in part to the support of China, North Korea’s closest ally.
The council said North Korea’s illegal missile and nuclear activities “are greatly increasing tension in the region and beyond” and expressed “utmost concern” at its “highly destabilizing behavior and flagrant and provocative defiance” of six U.N. sanctions resolutions.
The U.N.’s most powerful body demanded an immediate end to the North’s nuclear and missile tests and threatened to take “further significant measures” implying the imposition of new sanctions.
Middle school recess standoff!
ReplyDeleteYes, there have been many wars in history.
However, those wars were not nearly as riddled with the rumors and threats that we are now seeing. Can't imagine what the rumors of wars would look like if these times were just a dress rehearsal.