Originally posted by the Voice of America. Voice of America content is produced by the Voice of America, a United States federal government-sponsored entity, and is in the public domain. US Senators Set to Attend White House Briefing on North Korea by VOA News U.S. President Donald Trump has invited all 100 U.S. senators to the White House Wednesday for a classified briefing that will primarily concern North Korea. The briefing will be conducted by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Joseph Dunford. While lawmakers often receive classified briefings on Capitol Hill, it is rare for them to take place at the White House and for the entire Senate to be involved in one event. Trump said earlier this week the "status quo in North Korea" is unacceptable and that the United Nations Security Council must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions on North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs. "North Korea is a big world problem, and it's a problem we have to finally solve," the president added. "People have put blindfolds on for decades, and now it's time to solve the problem." Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said North Korea's unpredictability prompted him to ask the president to brief the full Senate on North Korea. "The president has made clear that a North Korea that is armed with a nuclear missile, a capability they have yet to test, is unacceptable to us and threatens our vital national security interests," McConnell said in remarks on the Senate floor. Trump, Abe Trump's comments came after he made his latest round of separate telephone calls to the leaders of Japan, China and Germany to discuss concerns about North Korea. A 30-minute call (Sunday evening U.S. time/Monday morning in Asia) between Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was meant to increase pressure on Pyongyang not to engage in further provocative actions, but was not prompted by any significant change in the situation, according to officials in Tokyo. "We agreed to strongly demand North Korea, which is repeating its provocation, show restraint," Abe told reporters in Tokyo. "We will maintain close contact with the United States, maintain a high level of vigilance and firmly respond." Abe also said he and Trump agreed that a larger role in dealing with Pyongyang should be played by China. Trump, Xi Trump subsequently spoke to Chinese President Xi Jinping about North Korea. The Chinese president said he hopes all sides avoid doing anything to worsen the tense situation on the Korean peninsula, according to the Xinhua news agency. Trump, in the phone call with Xi, "criticized North Korea's continued belligerence and emphasized Pyongyang's actions are destabilizing the Korean Peninsula," according to a White House readout issued Monday. "The two leaders reaffirmed the urgency of the threat posed by North Korea's missile and nuclear programs, and committed to strengthen coordination in achieving the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula." North Korea's continued development of ballistic missiles and its underground nuclear tests -- there have been five -- are "to put it mildly, a game changer," State Department spokesman Mark Toner told reporters Monday. "And it's one of the reasons why you've seen administration officials talking so candidly about our concerns and about the fact that the time for strategic patience and that policy is over." Trump and U.S. officials have repeatedly said all options remain "on the table" to deal with further North Korean provocations. A former National Security Council official in President Barack Obama's administration, Jon Wolfsthal, said in an interview with VOA relations between Washington and Pyongyang have "gone through cycles of tension and then relaxation" over the past 50 years. "There is a great risk that it could get out of control and lead to open conflict," Wolfsthal said. North Korea threats The conversations involving the president about North Korea took place as a U.S. Navy strike force, led by the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson, is approaching the Sea of Japan, off the east coast of the Korean peninsula. The strike force on Monday was wrapping up a "routine" joint drill "to provide combined maritime response" with components of the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force in the Philippines Sea "as it continued its northern transit," U.S. Navy Capt. Jeff Davis told reporters at the Pentagon. Officials in Seoul announced earlier Monday the Vinson is also scheduled to hold a joint training exercise with South Korean naval ships. "Consultations are under way in connection with the exercise," Ministry of National Defense spokesman Moon Sang-gyun told reporters. He provided no additional details. The approach of the American naval carrier strike group has not gone unnoticed in Pyongyang. "Our revolutionary forces are combat-ready to sink a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier with a single strike," read a Sunday commentary in the Rodong Sinmun, the Workers' Party newspaper. Such threats are common from the reclusive state. North Korea on Tuesday celebrated the anniversary of the founding of its military, a key holiday in the country. There were concerns Pyongyang, in conjunction with the anniversary, would demonstrate a show of force by possibly firing more ballistic missiles or conducting its sixth nuclear test. Neither event took place. Trump has said that Xi is applying pressure on North Korea to not engage in further provocations. It is speculated by analysts in Washington and Beijing that China is threatening to cut crude oil supplies to its impoverished neighbor should it conduct another nuclear test.