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April 14, 2017

NBC News: Trump Administration Prepared to Strike North Korea
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NBC News is reporting the Trump administration is prepared to launch a
preemptive attack on North Korea if it proceeds toward a nuclear weapons
test. NBC cited multiple senior U.S. intelligence officials, who say a
pair of U.S. naval destroyers are positioned near North Korea's nuclear
test site and prepared to fire Tomahawk cruise missiles. The Pentagon
declined to comment on the NBC report. North Korea on Thursday condemned
the U.S. for bringing an aircraft carrier group and other nuclear-armed
assets into the region, and threatened an assault on South Korea, Japan
and U.S. bases. In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi urged the
U.S. and North Korea to de-escalate.

Wang Yi: "On the issue of the Korean Peninsula, it's not about who can
say the most hateful words, about who can raise the biggest fist, who
will win. Rather, once war breaks out, there will be losses on all
sides. No one is the real winner."

U.S. intelligence officials claim North Korea is preparing what would be
its sixth nuclear weapons test-possibly as early as Saturday, which
marks the 105th anniversary of the birth of the country's founder, Kim
Il-sung. The anniversary comes as Vice President Mike Pence is scheduled
to travel to Seoul, South Korea, Sunday to kick off a 10-day trip to
Asia.


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