North Korea threatens to sink US aircraft carrier
With tensions rising between Pyongyang and Washington, and as Donald Trump seeks to consult with the leaders of China and Japan on the issue, North Korean state media announced that the country is ready to sink a US aircraft carrier to demonstrate its military might.
The United States has ordered the aircraft carrier Carl Vinson and its accompanying ships to sail to waters off the Korean Peninsula in response to North Korea's missile tests and nuclear threats. Vice President Mike Pence said on Saturday that the carrier group would arrive in the region within the next few days.
Meanwhile, the Rodong Sinmun newspaper, the official organ of the ruling party, has addressed the threat to the United States in an editorial. According to Reuters, the newspaper wrote: “Our revolutionary forces are ready to fight and sink the US nuclear aircraft carrier with a single strike… and such an attack would be a good example to show our military power.”
Reuters continues its report, citing a senior US government official, saying that Donald Trump was scheduled to hold talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday evening.
Trump has previously said he will solve the North Korean problem with or without China's help, but China has warned against military action against Pyongyang and urged the United States to find a peaceful solution to the issue.
North Korea has recently threatened Australia with a nuclear attack, after it called for pressure against Pyongyang.
Pyongyang also announced on Sunday that it had arrested another American citizen in the country, bringing the number of Americans currently detained in North Korea to three.
CBS News named the American citizen as Tony Kim and quoted the president of the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology as saying that Tony Kim had been teaching at the university for a month.
The report says Tony Kim was detained at Pyongyang International Airport on Saturday as he was leaving North Korea.
A US State Department official confirmed the news in an interview with CBS News, assuring that protecting American citizens is a top priority for the department, and that the Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang, which protects US interests in North Korea, has been contacted regarding this matter.
Last year, North Korea arrested an American student for stealing a North Korean government propaganda poster and sentenced him to 15 years in prison with hard labor. Another American citizen was arrested in North Korea and sentenced to 10 years in prison for espionage.
Source: Radio Farda
