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April 27th, 2017 
Awake Goy 
nsnbc : U.S. lawmakers from both the Senate and the House of Representatives, on Wednesday, received extraordinary classified briefings on North Korea by the White House on Wednesday. The briefing was provided within the context of increased tensions between the U.S and North Korea, upcoming elections in South Korea and the prospect of a new South Korean government that may pursue a more reconciliatory intra-Korean policy, and the controversial deployment of the THAAD missile defense system in South Korea.
All 100 Senators gathered Wednesday afternoon in the auditorium of the Executive Office Building adjacent to the White House, for the briefing led by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford. President Donald Trump also attended the meeting.
Republican Senator and Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, John McCain, commented on the briefing and the situation saying “I think the situation in one respect is as dangerous as the Cuban missile crisis was. ..But there’s also another aspect to this, and that is that China can restrain North Korea. In other words, this is not just a question of confrontation between the United States and North Korea. The Chinese can control, and do control, the economy of North Korea. President Trump has established a relationship with the Chinese leader, and so one can at least know that option is there.”
Later on Wednesday afternoon Vice President Mike Pence, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defense Secretary Mattis provided the full House of Representatives with a briefing for more than an hour. After the meeting House Foreign Affairs Chairman Ed Royce, a Republican from California, told reporters “We have to take some concerted action” .
Meanwhile the aircraft carrier group led by the carrier USS Carl Vinson is approaching the east coast of the Korean peninsula. The carrier group is also accompanied by the submarine USS Michigan, armed with guided missiles. In an unprecedented move, this group is also accompanied by Japanese naval vessels. With the United States having “reserved for itself the right to a nuclear first strike and conducts drills simulating the decapitation of the political and military leadership of North Korea, Donald Trump and U.S. officials have repeatedly said all options remain “on the table” to deal with further, alleged North Korean provocations.
PR for the Controversial THAAD?
It is noteworthy that the Trump administration’s declared “end to strategic patience” with North Korea (DPRK) comes against the backdrop of controversy over the deployment of the on the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System (THAAD) and the prospect upcoming elections in South Korea (ROK). The elections are likely to result in a new administration that will implement a more reconciliatory and less bellicose intra-Korean policy than the administration of impeached president Park Geun-hye and the current interim government.
The commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific region on Wednesday, assured the Senate’s Armed Services Committee that the THAAD system in South Korea will be operative within days. Pacific Command Commander Adm. Harry Harris told U.S. lawmakers, warned U.S. lawmakers that the “threat from Pyongyang” is not limited to the Korean peninsula and stressed that “It (THAAD) will be operational in the coming days and able to better defend South Korea. ..With every test, Kim Jong-un moves closer to his stated goal of a preemptive nuclear strike capability against American cities”. He also urged lawmakers to consider placing additional missile defense systems in Hawaii.
The Foreign Ministry of the Democratic People’s Republic (DPRK), for its part, stressed that it will hold the United States wholly accountable should its military posture and provocations result in an armed conflict. The Ministry also reiterated that it is concerned about the United States’ posing a potential threat by amassing nuclear capable military assets and troops. The military of the DPRK has held major military exercises in response to the perceived threat. It is noteworthy that all of these exercises were defensive exercises with limited elements that could be perceived as a strategic threat against possibly attacking naval vessels.
CH/L – nsnbc 27.04.2017
Source Article from https://nsnbc.me/2017/04/27/white-house-briefed-us-lawmakers-on-north-korea-pr-exercise-for-controversial-deployment-of-thaad/
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