US to North Korea: Stop provocations
begin quote from:
Pentagon responds after Pyongyang threatens to sink US aircraft carrier
US tells North Korea to cease 'destabilizing actions and rhetoric'
Story highlights
- The US responded to a threat in North Korean media
- One US aircraft carrier is drilling with the Japanese
Washington (CNN)With
tensions rising between the US and North Korea, the Pentagon on Sunday
called for the isolated communist nation to avoid destabilizing the
situation further.
"We call on
(North Korea) to refrain from provocative, destabilizing actions and
rhetoric, and to make the strategic choice to fulfill its international
obligations and commitments and return to serious talks," Pentagon
spokesman Gary Ross said. "North Korea's unlawful weapons programs
represent a clear, grave threat to US national security."
The statement came just hours after a North Korean newspaper said Pyongyang was ready to take out a US aircraft carrier conducting drills with Japanese destroyers near the Philippines.
Rodong
Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North Korean government's Central
Committee, said in an editorial the country is ready to illustrate its
"military force" by sinking the "nuclear-powered aircraft carrier with a
single strike."
The newspaper
claimed Pyongyang has weaponry that "can reach continental US and Asia
Pacific region" and the "absolute weapon," a hydrogen bomb.
CNN cannot independently verify the claims.
North Korea conducted its fifth nuclear weapons test last
September and displayed a series of missiles at a military parade on an
important North Korean holiday earlier this month before firing one off, which the US said went down in flames shortly after the launch.
President
Donald Trump has pledged to rein in the "menace" of North Korea's
nuclear program, and has spoken with Chinese President Xi Jinping
several times about getting China, as one of North Korea's only allies,
to put pressure on its neighbor to change course.
The State Department said Sunday that it remains committed to directly addressing the North Korean nuclear threat.
"Provocations
from North Korea have grown far too common and far too dangerous to
ignore," a department spokesperson said, referring to the country by the
acronym for its official name, the Democratic People's Republic of
Korea. "Together with the international community, we will hold the Kim
Jung-un regime accountable for its dangerous and reckless actions and
serious human rights abuses through a robust international campaign to
cut the DPRK off from the rest of the world through diplomatic,
security, and economic measures.
"With
our allies and partners around the world, we will show the DPRK that
the only path to a secure, economically-prosperous future is to abandon
its nuclear and ballistic missile programs," the spokesperson said.
"We
do not seek military conflict, nor do we seek to threaten North Korea,"
the spokesperson added. "However, we will respond to threats to us or
our allies accordingly. We remain open to talks with the DPRK, but need
to see that the DPRK will cease all its illegal activities and
aggressive behavior in the region."
The
US said Tuesday that it was sending the USS Carl Vinson towards North
Korea and that the strike group that it leads would reach there by late
April.
The Pentagon spokesman, Ross, said the US continued commitment to defending South Korea and Japan was "ironclad."
Homeland
Security Secretary John Kelly said in an interview on CNN's "State of
the Union" on Sunday that a North Korean nuclear missile capable of
striking the US would be a "grave threat" and anticipated North Korea
could achieve this capability before Trump would begin his second term.
Sunday's
threats from Pyongyang are consistent with others North Korea has made
in past weeks. The country has said it will respond in kind to any US
attack, and it has warned it would strike the US mainland and US
carriers and forces in the region, specifically US bases in South Korea
and Japan.
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