The North Korea situation is getting critical as the escalating tensions continue to intensify over the country’s missile tests and aggressive approach. In response, the entire U.S. Senate has been invited to the White House for a briefing on Wednesday.
The upcoming briefing was confirmed by the White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. All the 100 senators will be expected to attend. The 100 Senators will be updated by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats.
The occurrence is very rare as the entire Senate barely gets invited to such a briefing. The White House Press Secretary clarified that while the event will take place on the White House campus, it is technically a Senate briefing and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is the one who organized it.
Reuters first reported the briefing, it was later confirmed after President Trump earlier spoke to the leaders of both China and Japan. President Donald Trump addressed Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over the phone.
Reports from Chinese broadcaster CCTV revealed that the Chinese leader told Trump that China strongly opposed North Korea’s nuclear weapons program and hoped that all parties will exercise restraint and avoid aggravating the situation.
In response, Trump hopes China could increase pressure on its isolated ally instead of using military options or trying to overthrow Kim Jong Un’s regime. President Trump and Abe agreed to urge North Korea to refrain from provocative actions.
In the meantime, U.S. commercial satellite images indicated increased activity around North Korea’s nuclear test site. It’s not a surprise that Kim has revealed that the country’s preparation for an ICBM launch is in its final stage. Reports from South Korea’s Defense Ministry indicated that North appears to be ready to conduct such strategic provocations at any time.
The South Korean military has been instructed to strengthen its immediate response posture by Hwang Kyo-ahn, who is South Korean Acting Prime Minister. The instructions are meant to increase readiness in case North Korea does something significant on the April 25 anniversary of its military.
History has proved that North Korea often marks significant dates by displaying military capability.
Ambassadors of countries on the U.N. Security Council had lunch with President Trump on the U.N. Security Council. President Trump called for big reforms at the U.N. as he criticized its handling of recent events in Syria and North Korea, he also emphasized that the U.N. has tremendous potential.
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