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Wednesday 12 april 2017

North Korea decries US carrier dispatch as parliament meets

ERIC TALMADGE outspoken on the matter.
Associated Press “He would welcome Presi-
PYONGYANG, North Korea dent Xi weighing in on this a
(AP) — North Korea’s par- little bit more,” Spicer said.
liament convened Tuesday Earlier Tuesday, Trump also
amid heightened tensions said that he tried to per-
on the divided peninsula, suade Xi to put pressure on
with the United States and North Korea in exchange
South Korea conduct- for a good trade deal with
ing their biggest-ever mili- the U.S.
tary exercises and the USS “I explained to the Presi-
Carl Vinson aircraft carrier dent of China that a trade
heading to the area in a deal with the U.S. will be far
show of American strength. better for them if they solve
North Korea vowed a the North Korean problem!”
tough response to any Trump tweeted.
military moves that might In a second tweet he wrote:
follow the U.S. decision to “North Korea is looking for
send the carrier and its bat- trouble. If China decides to
tle group to waters off the help, that would be great. If
Korean Peninsula. not, we will solve the prob-
“We will hold the U.S. wholly lem without them! U.S.A.”
accountable for the cata- North Korea’s parliament,
strophic consequences to In this March 15, 2017 photo, U.S. Navy aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson approaches to partici- the Supreme People’s As-
be entailed by its outra- pate in the annual joint military exercise called Foal Eagle between South Korea and the United sembly, nominally the high-
geous actions,” a spokes- States, at Busan port in Busan, South Korea. The Pentagon says a Navy carrier strike group is mov- est organ of government,
man for its Foreign Ministry ing toward the western Pacific Ocean to provide a physical presence near the Korean Peninsula. opened Tuesday with the
(Jo Jung-ho/Yonhap via AP)
was quoted as saying by country’s leader, Kim Jong
the state-run Korean Cen- side of international norms. taken,” Tillerson told ABC’s volume of its rhetoric that Un, taking the center seat.
tral News Agency. He didn’t specify North Ko- “This Week.” war could be on the hori- Foreign media are not al-
The statement followed an rea, but the context was Pyongyang is always ex- zon if it sees any signs of ag- lowed to attend parlia-
assertion by U.S. Secretary clear enough. tremely sensitive to the an- gression from south of the mentary sessions. Initial re-
of State Rex Tillerson that “If you violate international nual U.S.-South Korea war Demilitarized Zone. ports from state media said
U.S. missile strikes against a agreements, if you fail to games, which it sees as an “This goes to prove that the meeting went through
Syrian air base in retaliation live up to commitments, invasion rehearsal, and jus- the U.S. reckless moves for domestic issues, with Pre-
for a chemical weapons if you become a threat to tifies its nuclear weapons as invading the DPRK have mier Pak Pong Ju making
attack carry a message for others, at some point a re- defensive in nature. It has reached a serious phase a speech about the latest
any nation operating out- sponse is likely to be under- significantly turned up the of its scenario,” the North’s
statement said, referring to five-year economic plan,
the country by its formal which was announced
name, the Democratic last year. Another closely
People’s Republic of Korea. watched category on the
“If the U.S. dares opt for a official agenda is organi-
military action, crying out zational issues, which can
for ‘pre-emptive attack’ ... mean new appointments
the DPRK is ready to react to senior positions.
to any mode of war desired Like other attendees, Kim
by the U.S.” Jong Un was shown on the
In Washington, White House North Korean news late
spokesman Sean Spicer Tuesday holding up his as-
said President Donald sembly membership card
Trump has been very clear to vote on state business.
that it’s “not tolerable” for This year’s meeting kicks off
North Korea to have nucle- what are expected to be
ar-armed missiles. major celebrations, includ-
“The last thing we want ing a large-scale military
to see is a nuclear North parade and fireworks, to
Korea that threatens the mark the 105th anniversary
coast of the United States, of the birth of Kim Il Sung,
or, for that matter, any oth- North Korea’s first leader
er country, or any other set and “eternal president,”
of human beings,” Spicer and Kim Jong Un’s late
said at the Tuesday news grandfather.
briefing. Though the details of the
Trump spoke last week April 15 anniversary —
with China’s President Xi known as the “Day of the
Jinping about the “shared Sun” — have not been of-
national interest” in stop- ficially confirmed, Pyong-
ping its close ally, North Ko- yang residents have been
rea, from having nuclear out every day diligently
capabilities, Spicer said, practicing in the city’s
adding that it would be squares and parks for the
helpful if China was more mass event.q