Tensions on the Korean peninsula
have escalated over Pyongyang's continued nuclear and missile testing
programme (file picture of a North Korea test rocket launch)
Members
of a Japanese doomsday cult killed 12 people and made thousands ill in
1995 in simultaneous attacks with sarin nerve gas on five Tokyo
rush-hour subway trains.
Tensions
on the Korean peninsula have escalated over Pyongyang's continued
nuclear and missile testing programme, with the United States warning it
could take unilateral action and sending a navy carrier group to near
the Korean peninsula in a show of force aimed at deterring more tests.
North Korea marks the 105th
anniversary of the birth of state founder Kim Il Sung on Saturday, North
Korea's biggest national day called 'Day of the Sun'.
Leaders have in the past used the date to carry out weapons tests.
North
Korea has launched several missile tests this year, the latest on April
5 when it fired a ballistic missile into the sea off its east coast. It
conducted its fifth nuclear test on September 9, 2016.
Washington-based 38 North , who
monitors North Korea, has reported 'unusually high levels of activity'
at the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site (above) over the past four week
Tensions are high after
Trump tweeted that he had 'a very good call' with Chinese leader Xi
Jinping Tuesday night dealing with 'the menace of North Korea'
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un
cuts the ribbon during an opening ceremony of a newly constructed
residential complex in Ryomyong street in Pyongyang
South Korea said today it believed
it would be consulted by the United States before any possible
pre-emptive U.S. strike against Pyongyang and China urged the North to
halt its nuclear programme in exchange for greater protection from
Beijing.
China, North Korea's sole
major ally and benefactor, has called for a peaceful resolution after a
sharp rise in rhetoric between the United States and Pyongyang.
On
Thursday, an influential state-backed Chinese newspaper said the best
option for North Korea and its leader Kim Jong Un was to give up its
nuclear programme.
'As soon as North
Korea complies with China's declared advice and suspends nuclear
activities ... China will actively work to protect the security of a
denuclearised North Korean nation and regime,' said an editorial in the
Global Times, which is published by the Communist party's People's
Daily.
While U.S. President Donald
Trump has put North Korea on notice that he won't tolerate provocative
actions by the North, U.S. officials have said his administration was
focusing its strategy on tougher economic sanctions.
Trump
has diverted the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier group towards the
Korean peninsula, which could take more than a week to arrive, in a show
of force aimed at deterring North Korea from conducting another nuclear
test or launching more missiles to coincide with major commemorative
events.
Officials gave no details as to
the nature of a so-called 'big event' or where it would take place, and
similar announcements in the past have been linked to relatively low-key
set pieces
US military
officials fear North Korea has placed a nuclear test in a tunnel with
the potential to detonate it on Saturday. Pictured: North Korean leader
Kim Jong Un (left) flanked by vice-chairman of the State Affairs
Commission Choe Yong-Hae at an opening ceremony for 'Rymoyong street', a
new housing development in Pyongyang today
The
possibility of U.S. military action against North Korea in response to
such tests gained traction after the U.S. Navy fired 59 Tomahawk
missiles at a Syrian airfield last week in response to a deadly gas
attack.
South Korean Foreign Minister
Yun Byung-se said he believed Washington would consult Seoul if it was
considering a pre-emptive strike against the North.
'Under
the South Korea-U.S. alliance, any important measure on the North is
taken under consultation with the South Korea government and it will
continue in the future,' Yun told a parliamentary hearing.
A
Washington-based think tank that monitors North Korea, 38 North, said
satellite images taken on Wednesday showed continued activity around the
North's Punggye-ri nuclear test site on the east coast that showed it
was ready for a new test.
South Korean
officials said on Thursday there were no new signs to indicate a North
Korean nuclear test was more likely, although they also said the North
has maintained a state of readiness to conduct such a test at any time.
Around
200 foreign journalists gathered in Pyongyang for North Korea's biggest
national day, the 'Day of the Sun', were taken to what was billed by
officials as a 'big and important event' early on Thursday.
It turned out to be the opening of a new street in the centre of the capital, attended by Kim.
North
Korea marks the 105th anniversary of the birth of state founder Kim Il
Sung on Saturday. In 2012, it tried but failed to launch a long-range
rocket carrying a satellite to mark the date and tested a newly
developed intermediate-range missile last year.
North
Korea's official KCNA news agency reported early on Thursday that Kim
Jong UKim Jong-Un
(second from right) attends a ceremony for the opening of a housing
project in Pyongyang today. The regime warned foreign journalists to
prepare for a 'big event' on Thursday and is thought to have put a
nuclear device in a tunnel at its Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site.
The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier
USS Carl Vinson, the guided-missile destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer and the
guided-missile cruiser USS Lake Champlain are pictured in March this
year. North Korea has warned it is 'ready to react to any mode of war
desired by the U.S.
TENSE STAND-OFF: The U.S.
dispatched a naval strike group to the area amid continued missile
launches and hot rhetoric from North Korea
'Watching
the brave combatants mercilessly blow up the enemy targets, he said
with pleasure that the commanding officers made correct decisions,
adding those combatants carrying out their duties independently and
pro-actively were reminiscent of fierce tigers crossing the mountain
ranges in the southern half,' KCNA reported.
On
Tuesday, North Korea warned of a nuclear attack on the United States at
any sign of American aggression. The North is technically at war with
the United States and South Korea after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a
truce and not a peace treaty.
The North regularly threatens to destroy both countries.
U.S.
officials said Trump was considering tougher sanctions that could
possibly include an oil embargo, banning North Korea's airline,
intercepting cargo ships, and punishing Chinese banks doing business
with Pyongyang.
'There's a whole host
of things that are possible, all the way up to what's essentially a
trade quarantine on North Korea,' one official, speaking on condition of
anonymity, told Reuters in Washington on Wednesday.
Customs
data in Beijing on Thursday showed that China's coal imports from North
Korea plunged 51.6 percent in the first three months in 2017 from a
year ago.
China suspended issuing
permits for importing coal from North Korea on Feb. 18 as part of its
efforts to implement U.N. sanctions against Pyongyang.
Trump
and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by telephone on Wednesday, just
days after they met in the United States for the first time,
underscoring the sense of urgency about North Korea.
Trump
said on Twitter his call with Xi was a 'very good' discussion of the
'menace of North Korea'. He said later on Wednesday the United States
was prepared to tackle the crisis without China if necessary.
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