"North Korea parades missiles as U.S. carrier group approaches ..." That's it?  It  merely "approaches"?  

Boy, talk about missed opportunity.  Why no pre-emptive non-nuclear strike, Syria-style...right on and around Pyongyang’s main Kim Il Sung Square? Surely distance is no obstacle.  Take out everything (and everybody, military personnel and leaders, the big man himself) at that specific location; "surgical" strikes at predetermined military targets, including launch facilities.  Wonder, why not? No babies gassed, perhaps...

Koreans likely expected it...maybe why "there did not appear to be a senior Chinese official in attendance" at the big parade. After moving inside the leader's aides probably breathed a monumental sigh of North Korean relief: the US carrier force did NOT attack! Fools! 

Understandable during Cold War, when big missile-trucks moved along the parade route in the Kremlin. "Mutually assured destruction."  Time is right with Korea...right now.  Later? Maybe not.