18 August, 2017
United States president Donald Trump and French President Emmanuel Macron spoke by phone on Saturday and agreed to work together on a crisis on the Korean Peninsula, the White House said in a statement.
According to the source, the talks are being held between Ambassador Joseph Yun, the US special representative for North Korea policy, and Pak Song Il, a senior North Korean diplomat at the country's United Nations mission, using what's known as the "New York channel", which has been an avenue of communication between the USA and North Korea throughout the years. Trump's comments, however, do not appear to be backed by significant military mobilization on either side of the Pacific, and an important, quiet diplomatic channel remains open.
He began with a morning tweet: "Military solutions are now fully in place, locked and loaded, should North Korea act unwisely".
This might be hard as the United States and its ally South Korea plan next week to start annual defensive military drills that the North claims are preparation for invasion.
"Let her speak for Germany", Trump said, when asked about the comment.
It's home to a US Navy base and the Andersen Air Force Base, from which American B-1B bombers conducted sorties over the Korean peninsula Tuesday, provoking the ire of Pyongyang's leadership and an escalating war of words between the US and North Korea.
"I don't see a military solution and I don't think it's called for", Merkel said Friday, calling on the U.N. Security Council to continue to address the crisis.
But Daniel Russel, until April the top US diplomat for East Asia, said this so-called NY channel had been a relatively commonplace means of communication with North Korea over the years, and was not a forum for negotiation.
Kim appeared in photos sitting at a table with a large map marked by a straight line between what appeared to be northeastern North Korea and Guam, and passing over Japan - apparently showing the missiles' flight route. "She's certainly not referring to the United States, that I can tell you".
In recent days, Trump and the North Korean regime have engaged in heated rhetoric about the Asian nation's nuclear weapons programme.
But Washington is also ready to use the "full range" of its military capabilities in case of provocation, Dunford said.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Monday called for a peaceful solution to the nuclear standoff, saying that "there must not be another war on the Korean Peninsula", according to his office.
Speaking to Guam Gov. Eddie Calvo, he promised: "You are safe". The two leaders affirmed North Korea must stop "its provocative and escalatory behavior", the White House said in a statement.
Calvo responded by saying he feels safe and confident with Trump's leadership: "I'm glad you're holding the helm, sir".
On Thursday, NBC News reported that the Pentagon had prepared a specific plan for a pre-emptive strike on North Korea's missile sites should Mr. Trump order such an attack. On Friday, he veered from North Korea to comments on politics.
Behind the threats, US officials insist there has been no new significant movement of troops, ships, aircraft or other assets to the region other than for long scheduled military exercises with South Korea.
The North's official KCNA news service, for its part, accused Trump in an editorial of "driving the situation on the Korean peninsula to the brink of a nuclear war", calling the United States "the heinous nuclear war fanatic". The plan would be sent to Kim for approval just before or as the U.S.
He said there had only been a few booking cancellations from South Korea.
Called Ulchi-Freedom Guardian, the exercises are expected to run August 21-31 and involve tens of thousands of American and South Korean troops on the ground and in the sea and air.
Despite such rhetoric, North Korean leaders are careful strategists who have created a reputation as irrational adventurists to intimidate their enemies, South Korean analysts say.
