Entire US Senate to go to White House for North Korea briefing
US President Donald calls status quo with North Korea 'unacceptable,' as all 100 senators have reportedly been called in for a security briefing on North Korea that will include Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford.
In a meeting with ambassadors to the United Nations Security Council on Monday, Trump said that called the status quo with North Korea "unacceptable." Trump met with the ambassadors for lunch and was accompanied by US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Hailey, Chinese Ambassador Liu Jiayi and top aides daughter Ivanka and her husband Jared Kushner.
After admonishing the UN Security Council's inaction following the Syrian chemical attack, Trump said "The status quo in North Korea is also unacceptable, and the council must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions on North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile programs." He added that "North Korea is a big world problem, a problem we have to solve."
Trump said that the United Nations Security Council must prepare for imposing new sanctions on North Korea, saying that for decades it had closed its eyes to the North Korean threat and said it was a big problem to be solved at last.
All 100 senators have been asked to the White House for the briefing by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the aides said.
While top administration officials routinely travel to Capitol Hill to address members of Congress on foreign policy and national security matters, it is very unusual to call on the entire 100-member Senate to be present at such an event, and for the four above-mentioned top officials to be involved.
US officials have expressed mounting concern over North Korea's nuclear and missile tests, and its threats to attack the United States and its Asian allies.
President Donald Trump criticized North Korea's "continued belligerence" and said its actions were destabilizing during a telephone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday, the White House said.
The Senate briefing will take place at 3 pm EDT. House aides said they were working with the White House to set a similar briefing for members of the House of Representatives.
On Sunday, Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke with Trump and called on both the United States and North Korea to show restraint. The conversation was the second since their meeting in Florida earlier this month. Trump had recently demanded that China be more hands on with reining in North Korea.
North Korea, for its part, continues to make threats regarding the US. On Monday, the North Korean government mouthpiece Rodong Sinmun published an op-ed that stated, "The US should not act out of panic, but carefully weigh the detrimental consequences that its actions that any provoking and foolish military operation on its behalf would have."
China is North Korea's only major ally, but in recent years China's patience has been growing thin due to North Korea's conduct. China has repeatedly called for the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and is concerned that the situation in the region will spiral out of control and lead to war and the collapse of its impoverished neighbor.
Meanwhile, Trump continues to signal that all options are on the table, as he dispatched the USS aircraft carrier Carl Vinson and other ships to the Korean peninsula, where two Japanese destroyers joined the US ships for a joint exercise.
North Korea plans to celebrate the 85th anniversary of the establishment of the People's Army on Tuesday, while some sources in the West fear that it will use the anniversary to conduct a nuclear test or launch ballistic missiles.
