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 meeting 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.

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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.

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.

Information for this article was contributed by Matthew Pennington, Vivian Salama, Foster Klug, Hyung-jin Kim, Kim Tong-Hyung, Chris Bodeen, Richard Lardner, Matthew Lee, Lolita C. Baldor and Edith M. Lederer of The Associated Press; by Kanga Kong, Tony Capaccio and Ting Shi of Bloomberg News; by Anita Kumar, Vera Bergengruen, Sean Cockerham, Alex Daugherty and Rob Hotakainen of Tribune News Service; and by Eric Schmitt of The New York Times.</s>A US nuclear submarine armed with guided missiles has made a port call in South Korea, while Pyongyang is reportedly holding massive long-range artillery drills amid muscle-flexing in the region and rising tensions between Washington and North Korea.

The USS Michigan nuclear submarine arrived in South Korea on Tuesday “during a regularly scheduled deployment to the Western Pacific,” according to a statement issued by the US Pacific Fleet.

The submarine is one of the four Ohio-class nuclear vessels, one of the largest in the world “measuring more than 560 feet long and weighing more than 18,000 tons when submerged.”

The US military praises the sub as a weapon to “provide the Navy with unprecedented strike and special operation mission capabilities.”

The move comes at a tense time in relations between Washington and Seoul on one side and North Korea on the other.

On Tuesday, Pyongyang celebrates the 85th anniversary of the foundation of its Korean People’s Army. The jubilee was marked by massive – yet conventional – drills, which featured some 300-400 long-range artillery pieces and were supervised by North Korean leader Kin Jong-un, according to Yonhap News agency citing South Korean Army sources.

In a fresh stage of escalation between the US and North Korea, President Donald Trump early in April promised to send a “very powerful armada,” led by the aircraft carrier ‘USS Carl Vinson,’ to press Pyongyang into abandoning its nuclear and missile programs.

Despite the threats, North Korea went on to test new ballistic missiles, although the launch failed.

The “armada” should arrive in the waters surrounding the peninsula “within days,” US Vice President Mike Pence said on Saturday, without giving specific details.

Pyongyang has repeatedly urged Washington stop its “military hysteria” and come to its “senses” – or face a “merciless response.”

North Korea called the deployment of the ‘Carl Vinson’ carrier group “an extremely dangerous act by those who plan a nuclear war to invade,” and even vowed to sink the carrier with a “single strike.”

Kim In Ryong, North Korean ambassador to the UN, accused the US of using “gangster-like logic” and being “hell-bent on dangerous saber-rattling in South Korea,” while speaking at a press conference in New York last week.

“The United States [is] introducing in South Korea, on the Korean Peninsula, the world’s biggest hotspot, huge nuclear strategic assets, seriously threatening the peace and security of the peninsula and pushing it to the brink of war,” Kim told reporters.

While Pence last week announced an “end of strategic patience” from the US towards North Korea, stating that “all options are on the table,” US envoy to the UN Nikki Haley said Monday that they were not “trying to pick a fight with him [Kim Jong-un].”

“We are not going to do anything unless he gives us reason to do something,” she said.

“But right now, we're saying, 'don't test, don't use nuclear missiles, don't try and do any more actions,' and I think he's understanding that,” Haley added.

“And China's helping really put that pressure on him.”

Pyongyang was alarmed by the US deployment of the THAAD anti-missile system in South Korea earlier this year, warning that such actions might lead to further escalation and ultimately to a nuclear war.

Russia and China have also opposed the deployment, which Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov described as “disproportionate.”</s>WASHINGTON - North Korea conducted live-fire artillery drills and a U.S. guided-missile submarine arrived in South Korea on Tuesday, as the Trump administration prepared an extraordinary White House briefing for senators on the escalating nuclear threat.

Fears North Korea could mark the 85th anniversary of its military's founding with a nuclear test explosion or a ballistic missile launch proved unfounded. But the unpredictable communist nation rattled its saber all the same, with drills that served as a reminder of the threat it poses below the border to U.S.-allied South Korea.

The exercise in the area of east coast city of Wonsan involved 300 to 400 artillery pieces, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said. An official from Seoul's Defense Ministry couldn't confirm such details.

North Korea's official media reported early Wednesday that leader Kim Jong Un personally observed the exercises. The drills near the port city of Wonsan on the east coast reportedly included submarine torpedo-attacks on mock enemy warships "while fighters and bombers made zero feet flight above the sea to drop bombs on the targets," the Korean Central News Agency said.

President Donald Trump has sent more U.S. military assets to the region in a show of force while leaning on China to exert economic pressure on its wayward ally. Chinese President Xi Jinping, who spoke to Trump on Monday, is urging restraint from both Pyongyang and Washington.

In Washington, top Trump administration officials are due to brief the entire U.S. Senate on Wednesday. A rapid tempo of North Korean weapons testing in the past year has pushed Kim Jong Un's authoritarian nation closer to developing a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the U.S. mainland.

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham voiced confidence Tuesday that Trump won't allow North Korea to reach that point. Graham, a defense hawk who dined with Trump on Monday night, said the North should not underestimate the president's resolve.

"We are probably in one of the most challenging situations since the Cuban missile crisis," Sen. John McCain, another Republican who joined Trump for the dinner, told a congressional hearing Tuesday, referring to the 1962 standoff with the Soviet Union that pushed the superpowers close to nuclear confrontation. McCain said a North Korean nuclear missile capable of striking an American city was "an imminent danger."

McCain said Trump is "exploring all options" on North Korea. A pre-emptive strike, he said, "would be the last one."

The USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier is headed toward the Korean Peninsula and will hold a joint exercise with South Korea. However, the deterrence effect of the operation may have been undermined by confusion over when the carrier arrives. The deployment was announced more than two weeks ago.

In the meantime, the USS Michigan, a nuclear-powered submarine, arrived Tuesday at the South Korean port of Busan for what was described as a routine visit to rest crew and load supplies. The U.S. 7th Fleet said two American destroyers were conducting simultaneous maritime exercises with naval ships from South Korea and Japan.

At the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Tuesday, U.S. lawmakers probed experts on the potential consequences of a pre-emptive U.S. military strike on North Korea. They heard sobering responses.

Princeton University professor Aaron Friedberg said North Korea could begin with a massive artillery barrage against Seoul, and unleash special forces and chemical and biological weapons, even if that would lead to the annihilation of Kim Jong Un's North Korean dictatorship.

"A conflict on the peninsula would be unlike anything we have seen in decades," Kelly Magsamen, a former senior U.S. defense official, said. "North Korea is not a Syria, it's not an Iraq."

"The consequences could be extremely high," she said, warning that China could intervene.

Graham surmised there are "no good choices left."

But he said, "if there's a war today, it's over there. In the future if there's a war and they get a missile it comes here." Left unsaid by Graham was that a war today could be disastrous for U.S. allies Japan and South Korea.

North Korea routinely accuses the United States of readying for an invasion, and threatens pre-emptive strikes to stop it. An unnamed Foreign Ministry spokesman said the U.S. administration's policy to maximize pressure on North Korea was "little short of lighting the fuse of total war," the state news agency reported Tuesday.

The streets of Pyongyang, however, were quiet for Tuesday's anniversary, which was overshadowed by April 15 celebrations for the birthday of the nation's late founder Kim Il Sung and were marked by a missile test the following day.

The Trump administration is also upping the ante diplomatically.

On Friday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will chair a special meeting of the U.N. Security Council.

Tillerson will be "very vocal" about nations enforcing sanctions on North Korea, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said. Trump said Monday the council must be prepared to impose stronger sanctions.</s>WASHINGTON (AP) – The Trump administration hosted senators for an extraordinary White House briefing Wednesday at a perilous moment with North Korea, marked by the unpredictable nation’s nuclear threats and stern talk of military action, if necessary, from the United States.

All 100 senators were invited and transported in buses for the unprecedented, classified briefing. President Donald Trump’s secretary of state, defense secretary, top general and national intelligence director were to outline for them the North’s escalating nuclear capabilities and U.S. response options, officials said. The briefing team was to meet later with House members in the Capitol.

The unusual sessions don’t necessarily presage the use of force along one of the world’s most heavily militarized frontiers, and some lawmakers questioned whether the cross-Washington procession was largely show, with Trump expected to drop in on the Eisenhower Executive Office Building gathering of lawmakers.

But it certainly reflected the increased American alarm over North Korea’s progress in developing a nuclear-tipped missile that could strike the U.S. mainland. And the recent flurry of military activity on and around the divided Korean Peninsula has put the world at high alert.

Tensions have escalated since Trump took office three months ago, determined to halt Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile advances.

In the past two weeks, Trump has ordered high-powered U.S. military vessels, including an aircraft carrier, to the region in a show of force to deter North Korea from more nuclear and missile tests. The North on Tuesday conducted large-scale, live-fire artillery drills, witnessed by national leader Kim Jong Un, as a reminder of its conventional threat to U.S.-allied South Korea.

And on Wednesday, South Korea started installing key parts of a contentious U.S. missile defense system against North Korean missiles that also has sparked Chinese and Russian concerns.

America’s Pacific forces commander, Adm. Harry Harris Jr., told Congress on Wednesday 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.

The Trump administration has said all options, including a military strike, are on the table. However, a U.S. pre-emptive attack isn’t likely, according to American officials. Instead, they’ve said the administration’s strategy focuses on increasing pressure on North Korea with the help of its main trading partner, China.

Sen. Ben Cardin, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s top-ranking Democrat, said he was hoping to hear the Trump administration’s game plan Wednesday.

The U.S. needs a strategy to change North Korea’s economic and security calculus for it to freeze and ultimately eliminate its nuclear and missile programs, he said, adding: There’s no “pretty military solution.”

U.S. officials said Wednesday’s briefings will center on three key issues: intelligence about the North’s capabilities; U.S. response options, including military ones; and how to get China and other countries to enforce existing economic sanctions on Pyongyang, along with ideas for new penalties. The officials weren’t authorized to speak publicly about plans for the closed-door briefings and requested anonymity.

“China is the key to this,” Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said. “The purpose of this briefing is to tell us the situation and the intelligence we have and what (are) the options we have.”

Testifying before the House Armed Services Committee, Harris said he expects North Korea, under Kim’s autocratic rule, to soon be able to develop a long-range missile capable of striking the United States, despite some spectacular failures in its ballistic missile program. “One of these days soon, he will succeed,” Harris said.

North Korea routinely accuses the United States of readying for an invasion, and threatens pre-emptive strikes to stop the U.S.

On Wednesday, North Korea’s U.N. mission said it would react to “a total war” with the U.S. with nuclear war. It said it would win in a “death-defying struggle against the U.S. imperialists.”

A targeted U.S. attack to take out North Korea’s nuclear weapons program could spark a wider war on the Korean peninsula, lawmakers and experts have warned. Harris said the U.S. has “a lot of pre-emptive options,” but he declined to provide specifics in an open setting.

China has been urging restraint by both Pyongyang and Washington. In Berlin, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Wednesday that North Korea must suspend its nuclear activities, but “on the other side, the large-scale military maneuvers in Korean waters should be halted.”

China opposes the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system, or THAAD, being installed in South Korea. The U.S. says it will only target North Korean missiles, but China and Russia see the system’s powerful radars as a security threat.

In Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said THAAD would upset the “strategic balance” in the region. He said China will take “necessary measures to defend our own interests.”</s>WASHINGTON >> The Trump administration hosted senators for an extraordinary White House briefing Wednesday at a perilous moment with North Korea, marked by the unpredictable nation’s nuclear threats and stern talk of military action, if necessary, from the United States.

All 100 senators were invited and transported in buses for the unprecedented, classified briefing. President Donald Trump’s secretary of state, defense secretary, top general and national intelligence director were to outline for them the North’s escalating nuclear capabilities and U.S. response options, officials said. The briefing team was to meet later with House members in the Capitol.

The unusual sessions don’t necessarily presage the use of force along one of the world’s most heavily militarized frontiers, and some lawmakers questioned whether the cross-Washington procession was largely show, with Trump expected to drop in on the Eisenhower Executive Office Building gathering of lawmakers.

But it certainly reflected the increased American alarm over North Korea’s progress in developing a nuclear-tipped missile that could strike the U.S. mainland. And the recent flurry of military activity on and around the divided Korean Peninsula has put the world at high alert.

Tensions have escalated since Trump took office three months ago, determined to halt Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile advances.

In the past two weeks, Trump has ordered high-powered U.S. military vessels, including an aircraft carrier, to the region in a show of force to deter North Korea from more nuclear and missile tests. The North on Tuesday conducted large-scale, live-fire artillery drills, witnessed by national leader Kim Jong Un, as a reminder of its conventional threat to U.S.-allied South Korea.

And on Wednesday, South Korea started installing key parts of a contentious U.S. missile defense system against North Korean missiles that also has sparked Chinese and Russian concerns.

America’s Pacific forces commander, Adm. Harry Harris Jr., told Congress on Wednesday 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.

The Trump administration has said all options, including a military strike, are on the table. However, a U.S. pre-emptive attack isn’t likely, according to American officials. Instead, they’ve said the administration’s strategy focuses on increasing pressure on North Korea with the help of its main trading partner, China.

Sen. Ben Cardin, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s top-ranking Democrat, said he was hoping to hear the Trump administration’s game plan Wednesday.

The U.S. needs a strategy to change North Korea’s economic and security calculus for it to freeze and ultimately eliminate its nuclear and missile programs, he said, adding: There’s no “pretty military solution.”

U.S. officials said Wednesday’s briefings will center on three key issues: intelligence about the North’s capabilities; U.S. response options, including military ones; and how to get China and other countries to enforce existing economic sanctions on Pyongyang, along with ideas for new penalties. The officials weren’t authorized to speak publicly about plans for the closed-door briefings and requested anonymity.

“China is the key to this,” Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said. “The purpose of this briefing is to tell us the situation and the intelligence we have and what (are) the options we have.”

Testifying before the House Armed Services Committee, Harris said he expects North Korea, under Kim’s autocratic rule, to soon be able to develop a long-range missile capable of striking the United States, despite some spectacular failures in its ballistic missile program. “One of these days soon, he will succeed,” Harris said.

North Korea routinely accuses the United States of readying for an invasion, and threatens pre-emptive strikes to stop the U.S.

On Wednesday, North Korea’s U.N. mission said it would react to “a total war” with the U.S. with nuclear war. It said it would win in a “death-defying struggle against the U.S. imperialists.”

A targeted U.S. attack to take out North Korea’s nuclear weapons program could spark a wider war on the Korean peninsula, lawmakers and experts have warned. Harris said the U.S. has “a lot of pre-emptive options,” but he declined to provide specifics in an open setting.

China has been urging restraint by both Pyongyang and Washington. In Berlin, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Wednesday that North Korea must suspend its nuclear activities, but “on the other side, the large-scale military maneuvers in Korean waters should be halted.”

China opposes the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system, or THAAD, being installed in South Korea. The U.S. says it will only target North Korean missiles, but China and Russia see the system’s powerful radars as a security threat.

In Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said THAAD would upset the “strategic balance” in the region. He said China will take “necessary measures to defend our own interests.”</s>WASHINGTON — Ahead of an extraordinary White House briefing for senators, South Korea on Wednesday started installing key parts of a contentious U.S. defence system against missiles from North Korea. And America’s Pacific commander said any North Korean missile fired at U.S. forces would be destroyed.

“If it flies, it will die,” Adm. Harry Harris Jr., told Congress.

South Korea’s trumpeting of progress in setting up the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defence system, or THAAD, comes as high-powered U.S. military vessels converge on the Korean Peninsula and as a combative North Korea signals possible nuclear and missile testing.

North Korea conducted live-fire artillery drills on Tuesday, the 85th anniversary of the founding of its million-person Korean People’s Army. On the same day, a U.S. guided-missile submarine docked in South Korea. The USS Carl Vinson aircraft supercarrier also is headed toward the peninsula for an exercise with South Korea.

At a House Armed Services Committee, Harris rejected reports that the Carl Vinson group is vulnerable to North Korean attacks. The commander of U.S. Pacific Command said North Korea doesn’t have a weapon that can threaten the group.

But Harris also said he expects North Korea to soon be able to develop a long-range missile capable of striking the United States, despite some spectacular failures in its ballistic missile program.

“Just as Thomas Edison is believed to have failed 1,000 times before successfully inventing the electric light bulb, so too, Kim Jong-Un will keep trying,” Harris said. “One of these days soon, he will succeed.”

Harris testified before a pair of Trump administration briefings on the North Korea crisis. All 100 senators have been invited to an unprecedented briefing in a building next to the White House that will include President Donald Trump’s secretary of state, defence secretary, top general and national intelligence director. The briefing team will then speak to House members in the Capitol.

The Trump administration has warned that all options, including a military strike, are on the table to block North Korea from developing a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the U.S. mainland. A U.S. pre-emptive attack isn’t likely, American officials have said, and the Trump White House has settled on a strategy of increasing pressure on North Korea with the help of China.

Wednesday’s briefings will focus on three key issues related to North Korea’s nuclear program: intelligence about the North’s capabilities; U.S. response options, including military ones; and how to get China and other countries to enforce existing economic sanctions on Pyongyang, along with ideas for new penalties. The officials weren’t authorized to speak publicly about plans for the closed-doors briefings and requested anonymity.

North Korea routinely accuses the United States of readying for an invasion, and threatens pre-emptive strikes to stop it. An unidentified North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said the U.S. administration’s policy to maximize pressure on North Korea was “little short of lighting the fuse of total war,” the state news agency reported.

A targeted preemptory attack to take out North Korea’s growing nuclear weapons program could spark a wider war on the Korean peninsula, lawmakers and experts on North Korea have warned. Harris said the U.S. has “a lot of pre-emptive options” that would affect North Korea’s “military calculus.” But he declined to provide specifics in an open setting.

Washington and Pyongyang have flexed their muscles in recent days. North Korea conducted large-scale live-fire drills Tuesday at an area around an eastern coastal town to mark its military’s founding anniversary and state media reported that Kim personally observed the exercises. At the same time, the USS Michigan, a nuclear-powered submarine armed with 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles, arrived in South Korea.

Unspecified parts of the THAAD defence system also were installed. According to the Yonhap news agency, the parts include two or three launchers, intercept missiles and radar.

But the system’s installation is also upsetting China, the country Trump hopes to work with to rid the North of nuclear weapons. China, which has grown increasingly frustrated with North Korea, its ally, and Russia see the system’s powerful radars as a security threat.

In Berlin, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said through an interpreter that all sides had obligations and “we don’t want to see any cherry picking.”

Pyongyang must suspend its nuclear activities, he said, but “on the other side, the large-scale military manoeuvrs in Korean waters should be halted.”

In Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the THAAD system’s deployment would “disrupt the regional strategic balance and further aggravate the tension on the peninsula.”

“China will firmly be taking necessary measures to defend our own interests,” Geng added.

Last year, North Korea conducted two nuclear tests. It also launched a long-range rocket last year that delivered a satellite into orbit, which Washington, Seoul and others saw as a banned test of missile technology.

Klug reported from Seoul, South Korea. Associated Press writers Hyung-jin Kim and Kim Tong-Hyung in Seoul; Eric Talmadge in Pyongyang, North Korea; Chris Bodeen in Beijing; and Matthew Lee and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington contributed to this report.</s>WASHINGTON — Ahead of an extraordinary White House briefing for senators, South Korea on Wednesday started installing key parts of a contentious U.S. defence system against missiles from North Korea. And America’s Pacific commander said any North Korean missile fired at U.S. forces would be destroyed.

“If it flies, it will die,” Adm. Harry Harris Jr., told Congress.

South Korea’s trumpeting of progress in setting up the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defence system, or THAAD, comes as high-powered U.S. military vessels converge on the Korean Peninsula and as a combative North Korea signals possible nuclear and missile testing.

North Korea conducted live-fire artillery drills on Tuesday, the 85th anniversary of the founding of its million-person Korean People’s Army. On the same day, a U.S. guided-missile submarine docked in South Korea. The USS Carl Vinson aircraft supercarrier also is headed toward the peninsula for an exercise with South Korea.

At a House Armed Services Committee, Harris rejected reports that the Carl Vinson group is vulnerable to North Korean attacks. The commander of U.S. Pacific Command said North Korea doesn’t have a weapon that can threaten the group.

But Harris also said he expects North Korea to soon be able to develop a long-range missile capable of striking the United States, despite some spectacular failures in its ballistic missile program.

“Just as Thomas Edison is believed to have failed 1,000 times before successfully inventing the electric light bulb, so too, Kim Jong-Un will keep trying,” Harris said. “One of these days soon, he will succeed.”

Harris testified before a pair of Trump administration briefings on the North Korea crisis. All 100 senators have been invited to an unprecedented briefing in a building next to the White House that will include President Donald Trump’s secretary of state, defence secretary, top general and national intelligence director. The briefing team will then speak to House members in the Capitol.

The Trump administration has warned that all options, including a military strike, are on the table to block North Korea from developing a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the U.S. mainland. A U.S. pre-emptive attack isn’t likely, American officials have said, and the Trump White House has settled on a strategy of increasing pressure on North Korea with the help of China.

Wednesday’s briefings will focus on three key issues related to North Korea’s nuclear program: intelligence about the North’s capabilities; U.S. response options, including military ones; and how to get China and other countries to enforce existing economic sanctions on Pyongyang, along with ideas for new penalties. The officials weren’t authorized to speak publicly about plans for the closed-doors briefings and requested anonymity.

North Korea routinely accuses the United States of readying for an invasion, and threatens pre-emptive strikes to stop it. An unidentified North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said the U.S. administration’s policy to maximize pressure on North Korea was “little short of lighting the fuse of total war,” the state news agency reported.

A targeted preemptory attack to take out North Korea’s growing nuclear weapons program could spark a wider war on the Korean peninsula, lawmakers and experts on North Korea have warned. Harris said the U.S. has “a lot of pre-emptive options” that would affect North Korea’s “military calculus.” But he declined to provide specifics in an open setting.

Washington and Pyongyang have flexed their muscles in recent days. North Korea conducted large-scale live-fire drills Tuesday at an area around an eastern coastal town to mark its military’s founding anniversary and state media reported that Kim personally observed the exercises. At the same time, the USS Michigan, a nuclear-powered submarine armed with 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles, arrived in South Korea.

Unspecified parts of the THAAD defence system also were installed. According to the Yonhap news agency, the parts include two or three launchers, intercept missiles and radar.

But the system’s installation is also upsetting China, the country Trump hopes to work with to rid the North of nuclear weapons. China, which has grown increasingly frustrated with North Korea, its ally, and Russia see the system’s powerful radars as a security threat.

In Berlin, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said through an interpreter that all sides had obligations and “we don’t want to see any cherry picking.”

Pyongyang must suspend its nuclear activities, he said, but “on the other side, the large-scale military manoeuvrs in Korean waters should be halted.”

In Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the THAAD system’s deployment would “disrupt the regional strategic balance and further aggravate the tension on the peninsula.”

“China will firmly be taking necessary measures to defend our own interests,” Geng added.

Last year, North Korea conducted two nuclear tests. It also launched a long-range rocket last year that delivered a satellite into orbit, which Washington, Seoul and others saw as a banned test of missile technology.

Klug reported from Seoul, South Korea. Associated Press writers Hyung-jin Kim and Kim Tong-Hyung in Seoul; Eric Talmadge in Pyongyang, North Korea; Chris Bodeen in Beijing; and Matthew Lee and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington contributed to this report.</s>WASHINGTON — Ahead of an extraordinary White House briefing for senators, South Korea on Wednesday started installing key parts of a contentious U.S. defence system against missiles from North Korea. And America’s Pacific commander said any North Korean missile fired at U.S. forces would be destroyed.

“If it flies, it will die,” Adm. Harry Harris Jr., told Congress.

South Korea’s trumpeting of progress in setting up the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defence system, or THAAD, comes as high-powered U.S. military vessels converge on the Korean Peninsula and as a combative North Korea signals possible nuclear and missile testing.

North Korea conducted live-fire artillery drills on Tuesday, the 85th anniversary of the founding of its million-person Korean People’s Army. On the same day, a U.S. guided-missile submarine docked in South Korea. The USS Carl Vinson aircraft supercarrier also is headed toward the peninsula for an exercise with South Korea.

At a House Armed Services Committee, Harris rejected reports that the Carl Vinson group is vulnerable to North Korean attacks. The commander of U.S. Pacific Command said North Korea doesn’t have a weapon that can threaten the group.

But Harris also said he expects North Korea to soon be able to develop a long-range missile capable of striking the United States, despite some spectacular failures in its ballistic missile program.

“Just as Thomas Edison is believed to have failed 1,000 times before successfully inventing the electric light bulb, so too, Kim Jong-Un will keep trying,” Harris said. “One of these days soon, he will succeed.”

Harris testified before a pair of Trump administration briefings on the North Korea crisis. All 100 senators have been invited to an unprecedented briefing in a building next to the White House that will include President Donald Trump’s secretary of state, defence secretary, top general and national intelligence director. The briefing team will then speak to House members in the Capitol.

The Trump administration has warned that all options, including a military strike, are on the table to block North Korea from developing a nuclear-tipped missile that could reach the U.S. mainland. A U.S. pre-emptive attack isn’t likely, American officials have said, and the Trump White House has settled on a strategy of increasing pressure on North Korea with the help of China.

Wednesday’s briefings will focus on three key issues related to North Korea’s nuclear program: intelligence about the North’s capabilities; U.S. response options, including military ones; and how to get China and other countries to enforce existing economic sanctions on Pyongyang, along with ideas for new penalties. The officials weren’t authorized to speak publicly about plans for the closed-doors briefings and requested anonymity.

North Korea routinely accuses the United States of readying for an invasion, and threatens pre-emptive strikes to stop it. An unidentified North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said the U.S. administration’s policy to maximize pressure on North Korea was “little short of lighting the fuse of total war,” the state news agency reported.

A targeted preemptory attack to take out North Korea’s growing nuclear weapons program could spark a wider war on the Korean peninsula, lawmakers and experts on North Korea have warned. Harris said the U.S. has “a lot of pre-emptive options” that would affect North Korea’s “military calculus.” But he declined to provide specifics in an open setting.

Washington and Pyongyang have flexed their muscles in recent days. North Korea conducted large-scale live-fire drills Tuesday at an area around an eastern coastal town to mark its military’s founding anniversary and state media reported that Kim personally observed the exercises. At the same time, the USS Michigan, a nuclear-powered submarine armed with 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles, arrived in South Korea.

Unspecified parts of the THAAD defence system also were installed. According to the Yonhap news agency, the parts include two or three launchers, intercept missiles and radar.

But the system’s installation is also upsetting China, the country Trump hopes to work with to rid the North of nuclear weapons. China, which has grown increasingly frustrated with North Korea, its ally, and Russia see the system’s powerful radars as a security threat.

In Berlin, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said through an interpreter that all sides had obligations and “we don’t want to see any cherry picking.”

Pyongyang must suspend its nuclear activities, he said, but “on the other side, the large-scale military manoeuvrs in Korean waters should be halted.”

In Beijing, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said the THAAD system’s deployment would “disrupt the regional strategic balance and further aggravate the tension on the peninsula.”

“China will firmly be taking necessary measures to defend our own interests,” Geng added.

Last year, North Korea conducted two nuclear tests. It also launched a long-range rocket last year that delivered a satellite into orbit, which Washington, Seoul and others saw as a banned test of missile technology.

Klug reported from Seoul, South Korea. Associated Press writers Hyung-jin Kim and Kim Tong-Hyung in Seoul; Eric Talmadge in Pyongyang, North Korea; Chris Bodeen in Beijing; and Matthew Lee and Lolita C. Baldor in Washington contributed to this report.</s>PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — The Latest on tensions on the Korean Peninsula (all times local):

A U.N. human rights expert is calling for a cooling of tensions on the Korean Peninsula, insisting that statements that feed hatred and polarization undermine the chance to “improve the dire situation of ordinary North Koreans.”

Tomas Ojea Quintana, special rapporteur on North Korea for the U.N. human rights office, says “the recent rise in conflict rhetoric is worsening already critical human rights challenges in North Korea.” He said the world should come together to protect the rights of people in North Korea.

Ojea noted increased tensions caused by North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests and the deployment of a U.S. aircraft carrier group in the region.

He said “the onus is on all of us to lower tensions and restore dialogue, including on human rights.”

China says its diplomatic channels with North Korea remain open and exchanges are normal, despite a spike in tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters Tuesday that China urges all sides to exercise restraint and refrain from any actions that could push tensions even higher.

While China is North Korea’s most important ally, the North has repeatedly snubbed Beijing’s calls to comply with United Nations resolutions on its missile and nuclear programs.

Since taking power in 2011, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has rarely met with Chinese officials and has yet to visit the country that provides his regime with most of its foreign trade and economic assistance.

The lack of meetings has raised questions about their traditional friendship, and speculation grew higher this month when North Korea reportedly ignored a request for a visit by Beijing’s top negotiator on the nuclear issue, Wu Dawei.

Lu did not address any specific issues at a regular news conference, but said, “I want to say that China and North Korea maintain normal exchanges and the diplomatic channel between the two countries remains smooth.”

“I would like to reiterate that the current situation on the Korean Peninsula is complicated and sensitive and the tension is high. We urge all sides concerned to keep restrained and calm and refrain from taking actions that could escalate tensions,” Lu said.

South Korea’s military says North Korea is conducting large-scale live-fire drills at an area around an eastern coastal town to mark its military’s founding anniversary.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff on Tuesday didn’t specifically comment on the size of the drills in an area near Wonsan.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency earlier said that the exercise involved 300 to 400 artillery pieces and that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un likely observed what was one of the country’s largest artillery drills.

An official from Seoul’s Defense Ministry couldn’t confirm such details.

There was speculation that the North might carry out another nuclear or missile test.

South Korea’s military says it’s closely watching North Korean troop movement around an eastern coastal town where the North reportedly conducted a huge live-fire drill to mark the founding anniversary of its military.

Seoul’s Joint Chiefs of Staff on Tuesday didn’t directly confirm a report by South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, which cited an unnamed government source to report that the North carried out an exercise involving 300 to 400 artillery pieces in an area around Wonsan.

Yonhap says that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un likely observed what was one of the country’s largest artillery drills.

There was speculation that the North might carry out another nuclear or missile test.

South Korea’s envoy for North Korea Kim Hong-kyun says he and his Japanese and American counterparts have agreed to “maximize pressure” on North Korea to prevent it from making further provocations.

The three envoys held talks in Tokyo on Tuesday as North Korea marked the anniversary of its military amid speculation it might carry out another nuclear or missile test.

Kim says the envoys strongly denounce North Korea’s continuing provocations, including threats of a nuclear war.

He says: “We agreed to maximize pressure on North Korea by imposing punitive measures that would be unbearable to them if the North continues further provocations despite our warnings.”

Kim said the roles of China and Russia are crucial to apply pressure effectively on North Korea toward its denuclearization. He praised China for its recent steps seen more cooperative toward that goal.

A ruling Chinese Communist Party newspaper is warning North Korea against conducting another nuclear test, saying that would likely propel events past the “point of no return.”

In an editorial Tuesday, the Global Times says the previous day’s phone conversation between Presidents Donald Trump and Xi Jinping of China showed the two countries were in close communication over the tensions.

It says China hopes for a peaceful outcome, but that Beijing has “very limited influence on the entire situation.”

It says: “The game of chicken between Washington and Pyongyang has come to a breaking point.” The paper is known for its often stridently nationalistic views.

It says if North Korea carries out a sixth nuclear test as expected, “it is more likely than ever that the situation will cross the point of no return. All stakeholders will bear the consequences, with Pyongyang sure to suffer the greatest losses.”

As a traditional ally and North Korea’s chief source of trade, food and fuel aid, China has come under intense pressure to use its influence to dissuade Pyongyang from additional nuclear tests and missile launches.

However, Beijing is intensely wary of any measures that might cause the collapse of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s hard-line communist regime, fearing that could lead to a wave of refugees and a Pyongyang government beholden to Washington and Seoul.

U.S. envoy for North Korea Joseph Yun says he and his counterparts from Japan and South Korea agreed to coordinate “all actions” on North Korea.

The three envoys also agreed that China has a key role in pressuring North Korea to abandon its missile and nuclear programs.

Yun told reporters after a meeting in Tokyo that all diplomatic, military and economic actions on North Korea will be coordinated among the allies.

Yun says China especially has “a very, very important role” to play. He says U.N. Security Council resolutions and sanctions on Pyongyang must be fully implemented.

He says: “There are a number of countries who could be more proactive” in implementing the sanctions. He did not identify the countries.

South Korean newspapers are questioning whether President Donald Trump is tuning out South Korea as he shapes his North Korea strategy.

Trump skipped calling Seoul during his phone conversations with his counterparts in Beijing and Tokyo on Sunday over the growing threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missiles program.

The Maeil Business Daily said Tuesday that Trump not calling South Korean Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn, the country’s acting leader, showed that the relations between the allies are “not normal.”

The newspaper also mentioned that Washington has yet to name its new ambassador to Seoul three months after the departure of Mark Lippert and questioned whether Trump has “entirely left out South Korea in his picture for the Korean Peninsula.”

The JoongAng Ilbo daily said in an editorial that South Korea shouldn’t be excluded from critical discussions surrounding North Korea, because “the destiny of our nation could be at stake.”

Seoul has long worried about losing its voice in international efforts to deal with North Korea’s nuclear threat — something local media have termed “Korea Passing.”

Maeil Business wrote: “When a military clash happens in the Korean Peninsula, South Korea will be the first target of North Korea and its military will hold joint operations with U.S. troops to fight back. … If there is a partner Trump needs to discuss with foremost over the North Korea problem, it’s not Xi Jinping or Shinzo Abe, but the leader of South Korea.”

South Korea says a U.S. nuclear-powered submarine has docked in the southern port of Busan, but it isn’t expected to participate in joint naval exercises with South Korea.

An official from South Korea’s navy said Tuesday the USS Michigan is making a routine stop to rest its crews and reload supplies. The submarine arrived on the same day North Korea celebrates the anniversary of the founding of its military.

North Korea often marks significant dates with show of military capability, and South Korean officials have said the North could be preparing another round of nuclear or missile tests around the anniversary.

President Donald Trump has dispatched to the region what he called an “armada” of ships, including an aircraft carrier, in a show of force. South Korea’s navy is planning to hold joint naval drills with U.S. aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson battle group, which has trained with Japanese destroyers in recent days, around the weekend.

Envoys from Japan, the U.S. and South Korea have gathered in Tokyo to discuss North Korea amid concern it may carry out another nuclear or missile test.

Japanese officials say U.S. representative for North Korea Policy Joseph Yun met Tuesday with his Japanese counterpart Kenji Kanasugi and Kim Hong-kyun of South Korea to share their latest analyses and discuss cooperation.

There is speculation that North Korea may carry out another nuclear or missile test to mark the anniversary of its armed forces Tuesday. It launched a missile one day after the 105th birthday of late founder Kim Il Sung on April 15.

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters that the three envoys were to deepen cooperation and stay on the same page amid growing tension.

Japan’s Foreign Ministry also announced that China’s envoy for North Korea, Wu Dawei, will visit Tokyo later Tuesday for talks with Kanasugi.

North Korea’s capital is quiet on Tuesday amid expectations of some sort of a big event to mark the anniversary of the founding of the country’s military.

The morning came and went without any nuclear tests or ballistic missile launches and all that is publicly scheduled for the day are gatherings for mass dancing, a common celebratory feature of major North Korean holidays.

The main political event to mark the anniversary apparently was a “national meeting” held the day before, when thousands of senior military and civilian officials gathered at the People’s Palace of Culture in Pyongyang.

North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un did not attend. It was not known how he is marking Tuesday’s anniversary.

At the meeting, army Gen. Pak Yong Sik, North Korea’s minister of defense, reiterated Pyongyang’s claim that the country is ready to use pre-emptive strikes or any other measures it deems necessary to defend itself against the “U.S. imperialists.”

He told the gathering: “The situation prevailing on the Korean Peninsula is so tense that a nuclear war may break out due to the frantic war drills of the U.S. imperialists and their vassal forces for aggression.”</s>South Korea's military had seized the boat after it ignored warnings to retreat, but later confirmed the vessel had experienced engine failure and the three crewmen had no wish to defect to the South, a ministry official said.

The incident came as the North faced renewed pressure from the international community after it fired two mid-range missiles on Wednesday just as the leaders of the South, Japan and the United States pledged to curb its arms ambitions.

The U.N. Security Council on Thursday condemned the missile launch as a violation of U.N. resolutions and will hold discussions on a response, Luxembourg's U.N. Ambassador Sylvie Lucas, who is the council president, said.

North Korea refuses to recognise the so-called Northern Limit Line that has been the naval border since the end of the Korean War in 1953. The two sides have been technically at war ever since, as the fighting ended with a truce, not a treaty.

North Korean navy vessels crossed the line in 1999 and 2002 that led to clashes that killed an unidentified number of sailors on both sides.

A South Korean navy ship was sunk four years ago near the area of the latest infringement. An international team of investigators said it was torpedoed by the North, but Pyongyang denies the charge and calls it "a farce". Months later the North bombarded a village on South Korean island in the same area, killing four people.
The United States deploys parts of its Terminal High Altitude Area Defense in South Korea amidst high tension caused by North Korea's escalation of its missile and nuclear weapons programs.