N. Korea focus of day
Senate told nonmilitary action plan for now
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s administration told lawmakers Wednesday in a White House briefing that it will apply economic and diplomatic pressure to get North Korea to dismantle its nuclear-weapons program, tamping down talk of military action.
Trump welcomed Republican and Democratic senators Wednesday before his secretary of state, defense secretary, top general and national intelligence director conducted a classified briefing for the lawmakers. The same team also met with House members at the Capitol to outline North Korea’s escalating nuclear capabilities and the U.S.’ options in responding to what they called an “urgent national security threat.”
After weeks of unusually blunt military threats, a joint statement by the agency chiefs said Trump’s approach “aims to pressure North Korea into dismantling its nuclear, ballistic missile and proliferation programs by tightening economic sanctions and pursuing diplomatic measures with our allies and regional partners.” It made no specific mention of military options, though it said the U.S. would defend itself and its friends.
The unprecedented meet-
ing with the entire Senate in a building adjacent to the White House reflected the increased alarm over North Korea’s progress in developing a nuclear-tipped missile that could strike the U.S. mainland.
Tensions have escalated dramatically in recent weeks as American and other intelligence agencies suggested that North Korea was readying for a possible nuclear test. Although such an explosion hasn’t yet occurred, Trump has sent high-powered U.S. military vessels and an aircraft carrier to the region in a show of force, while North Korea conducted large-scale, live-fire artillery drills earlier this week.
The Trump administration has said all options, including a military strike, are on the table. But the administration’s statement after briefing senators — all 100 members were invited — outlined an approach similar to that of former President Barack Obama’s administration, one that focuses on pressuring Pyongyang to return to long-stalled denuclearization talks.
After the meeting, U.S. Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., issued a written statement, saying that Trump and his national security advisers “have a clear grasp on the urgent need to address the escalating situation with North Korea.”
“The bottom line is that [North Korean leader Kim Jong Un] has to end his belligerent actions,” Boozman said. “If not, Congress and the administration need to leave every option on the table to counter these aggressions.”
Sen. Tom Cotton also attended. He didn’t release a written statement afterward, but he has previously called for the U.S. to “take a harder line” against North Korea, labeling it a “rogue regime.”
Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., called the meeting “sobering” and said it was clear that North Korea “intends to develop nuclear weapons and the capability to deliver them.”
Trump’s top national security advisers said they were “open to negotiations” with the North, though they gave no indication of when or under what circumstances.
The strategy hinges greatly on the cooperation of China, North Korea’s main trading partner.
“China is the key to this,” said Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who got a preview of Trump’s message at a dinner with the president this week.
Among the options are returning North Korea to the U.S.’ blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism, which Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said last week was under consideration. His spokesman, Mark Toner, said Wednesday that another tactic is getting nations around the world to close down North Korean embassies and consulates, or suspending them from international organizations.
But sanctions will be the greatest tool at the Trump administration’s disposal. Tillerson on Friday will lead a U.N. Security Council meeting designed to get nations to enforce existing penalties against North Korea and consider new ones.
Trump, like presidents before him, faces difficult options. Sanctions haven’t forced Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear efforts, but a targeted U.S. attack to take out its weapons program risks a wider war along a heavily militarized border near where tens of millions of South Koreans live. The threat would extend to nearby Japan, another country North Korea regularly threatens.
China has urged restraint by Pyongyang and Washington. In Berlin on Wednesday, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said North Korea must suspend its nuclear activities but that, “on the other side, the large-scale military maneuvers in Korean waters should be halted.” That was a reference to U.S. and South Korean war games.
DEFENSE SYSTEM
China also opposes the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system, for which South Korea began installing key parts Wednesday. Beijing has rejected Washington’s assurances that the U.S. missile-defense system will target only North Korean projectiles, expressing concern that it could be used to spy on Chinese facilities. Russia also sees the system’s powerful radar as a security threat.
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the missile-defense system would “disrupt the regional strategic balance and further aggravate tensions on the peninsula.” China will take “necessary measures to defend our own interests,” he promised.
Television footage showed trucks hauling equipment for the defense system to a site in the southeastern region of Seongju, as police in riot gear watched protesters lining the streets. U.S. forces began moving the components around midnight Tuesday to avoid attracting attention from residents, the Yonhap News Agency reported.
Korean police mobilized 8,000 officers to control any possible conflict with villagers, who are concerned that the system’s radar may affect their health.
The recent missile launches by North Korea highlight the need to deploy the system to protect South Koreans and alliance forces, the Pentagon said in a statement. “North Korea’s unlawful weapons programs represent a clear, grave threat to U.S. national security,” it said.
South Korea’s Defense Ministry said the system should be operational by the end of the year. American forces were working with South Korea to complete the deployment “as soon as feasible,” the U.S. Defense Department said in an emailed statement.
But the U.S.’ Pacific forces commander, Adm. Harry Harris Jr., told Congress on Wednesday that the system would be operational within days. He said any North Korean missile fired at U.S. forces would be destroyed.
“If it flies, it will die,” Harris said.
Testifying before the House Armed Services Committee, Harris said he expects North Korea to soon be able to develop a long-range missile capable of striking the United States, as Kim has promised. “One of these days soon, he will succeed,” Harris said.
Harris suggested that the Pentagon needs to consider deploying new anti-ballistic missile systems and defensive radar in Hawaii to protect the island state.
“Kim Jong Un is clearly in a position to threaten Hawaii today, in my opinion,” he said.
North Korea’s U.N. mission said Wednesday that the nation would react to “a total war” with Washington by using nuclear weapons. It vowed victory in a “death-defying struggle against the U.S. imperialists.”
Harris also took responsibility for a chain of events this month that mistakenly left the impression that the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson was rushing to confront North Korea.
“That’s my fault for the confusion,” he said.
Harris ordered the Carl Vinson and three other warships to cancel a port call to Australia and “sail north” from Singapore into the western Pacific. An ill-timed news release by the Navy’s 3rd Fleet created the impression that the carrier was headed north immediately, but in reality it was steaming south to join the Australian navy in a secretive, truncated exercise in the Indian Ocean, 3,500 miles southwest of the Korean Peninsula.
“Where I failed was to communicate that adequately to the press and the media,” Harris said.
South Korean and Japanese news media, as well as The New York Times, reported Harris’ order as evidence that the crisis was intensifying.