In one particularly worrisome development for Japan, the North conducted a near-simultaneous launch of four extended-range Scud missiles in March as a rehearsal for striking USA military bases in the country.
The South's trumpeting of progress on setting up the Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense system, or THAAD, comes as high-powered US military assets converge on the Korean Peninsula and as a combative North Korea signals possible nuclear and missile testing.
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.
Geng repeated that there had been no change to China's decision in February to ban all North Korean coal imports this year and that no coal had been imported from North Korea since then.
"The status quo in North Korea is also unacceptable", Trump told a meeting with the 15 U.N. Security Council ambassadors, including China and Russian Federation, at the White House.
During congressional testimony Wednesday, Adm. Harry Harris Jr., says reports that the USS Carl Vinson battle group may be vulnerable to North Korean attacks are misleading.
The anti-missile system also has become a campaign issue ahead of South Korea's May 9 presidential election, with frontrunner Moon Jae-in denouncing the expedited deployment while his closest rival Ahn Cheol-soo says it must take place.
Meanwhile, US Vice President Mike Pence is heading back to Washington after visits to Asia and Australia, where North Korea headlined talks.
Hundreds of demonstrators in Seongju - previously known for melon farming - held up signs demanding 'No War!' and accused the US of occupying the peninsula, according to local news agency Yonhap. Images showed local protesters hurling water bottles at the vehicles and police trying to block them.
Indeed, some analysts are suggesting the political climate on the Korean Peninsula could shift once the People's Army anniversary - the last event on North Korea's calendar for the first half of 2017 - has been cleared. An official from Seoul's Defense Ministry couldn't confirm those specific details.
Mobilization of self-propelled artillery pieces which can reach Seoul and its adjacent areas indicated that Pyongyang seeks to demonstrate its readiness to attack the South if Washington stages a pre-emptive strike on the North, experts say.
PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) - South Korea's military said Tuesday that North Korea held major live-fire drills in an area around its eastern coastal town of Wonsan as it marked the anniversary of the founding of its military.
EU opens legal case against Hungary over Soros university
Michael Ignatieff, CEU president and the former head of Canada's Liberal Party, appealed to Brussels for help on Tuesday. The law is seen as aimed squarely at Central European University, which has been operating in Budapest since 1993.
It came at a time of heightened tension as US President Donald Trump attempts to persuade China to rein in its neighbour.
Xi urged "restraint" on North Korea in the call, according to the Chinese foreign ministry.
The Pentagon said its leaders and other top officials will give a classified briefing on North Korea to USA senators on Wednesday at the White House, rather than in the usual secure rooms at the Capitol.
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 US troops to fight back". North Korea separately fired what US officials said were a Scud-type missile and a midrange missile earlier this month, but the launches were analyzed as failures.
"My view is there does need to be regional strategy and North Korea needs to be a part of that", said Glaser, who noted that there is also an upside to the Trump administration's apparently singular focus on North Korea.
U.S. special representative Joseph Yun said he discussed American policy to "enhance pressure" on Pyongyang "because we really do not believe that North Korea is ready to engage us towards denuclearisation".
The port call by the USS Michigan came as a USA aircraft carrier strike group steams for Korean waters and as the top nuclear envoys from South Korea, Japan, and the United States were to meet in Tokyo to discuss the North's refusal to give up its nuclear program.
The United States has ordered an aircraft carrier strike group to the western Pacific near North Korea.
At the same time, North Korea intentionally exposed signs of a possible nuclear test at its Punggye-ri test site in the northeast of the country, while directly threatening that it can press the button at anytime.
The Trump administration is also upping the ante diplomatically.
On Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is to chair a special meeting of the U.N. Security Council.
North Korea carried out the large-scale conventional military exercise instead of staging another nuclear test or missile provocation. Trump said Monday the council must be prepared to impose stronger sanctions.
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