US President Donald Trump warned on Tuesday that Washington was prepared to
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump warned on Tuesday (Apr 11) that Washington was prepared to”solve the problem” of North Korea on its own if necessary as he and Pyongyang engaged in tit-for-tat saber-rattling that sent tensions soaring in East Asia.
Trump’s warning came as a US naval strike group headed toward the Korean peninsula, a show of force that prompted the nuclear-armed North to declare it was”ready to react to any mode of war desired by the US.”
“This goes to prove that the US reckless moves for invading the DPRK have reached a serious phase,” a spokesman for the North’s foreign ministry said, according to state news agency KCNA.
The strike group – which includes the Nimitz-class aircraft supercarrier USS Carl Vinson – turned toward the Korean peninsula this weekend in response to what a top White House official called a”pattern of provocative behaviour.”
A barrage of recent North Korean missile tests have stoked US fears that Pyongyang may soon have an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the US mainland.
Speculation also has mounted that North Korea might conduct a nuclear test to mark the 105th birthday anniversary of founder Kim Il-Sung on Saturday.
US National Security Advisor H. R. McMaster said on Sunday that Trump has asked for”a full range of options to remove that threat.”
White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the presence of a carrier strike group”gives the president options in the region.”
“I think when you see a carrier group steaming into an area like that, the forward presence of that is clearly… a huge deterrent,” he said.
In a pair of tweets on Tuesday, Trump doubled down on a vow to act unilaterally against Pyongyang if China fails to rein in its unpredictable ally.
