Trump To Hold Top Level Briefing On North Korea Following US Citizen Arrest

Shortly after the news that later on Sunday, president Trump would hold a phone call with China president Xi and Japan"s PM Abe, the White House said in an advance schedule that on April 26 it will hold a briefing for senators with its “four principals” on North Korea "as the administration considers its options for dealing with saber-rattling from Pyongyang" according to Bloomberg. Among those present will be Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

While it is unclear if today"s arrest of a US citizen - the third such detention by the North Korean government - will be a key topic, a State Department official said in a brief statement that “we are aware of reports that a U.S. citizen was detained in North Korea," and added that "in cases where U.S. citizens are reported to be detained in North Korea, we work with the Swedish Embassy, which serves as the United States’ Protecting Power in North Korea. Due to privacy considerations, we have no further comment."

In the latest sabre-rattling from Pyongyang, North Korea threatened that it was ready to sink a U.S. aircraft carrier to show its military strength, Reuters reported, citing the country"s state-run Rodung Sinmun. The USS Carl Vinson is heading to the Western Pacific to conduct drills with two Japanese destroyers amid heightened tensions over the North’s missile tests. 

The warning came as Mike Pence reiterated the popular line that all options are "on the table" during a visit to Sydney this weekend

Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly said on Sunday’s “Face the Nation” on CBS that while North Korea poses mostly a cyber threat to the U.S. today, that could change. “The instant they get a missile that can reach the United States, and they have a weaponized atomic device, nuclear device on it, we’re at grave risk as a nation,” he said.

As a reminder, April 26 is the day after the USS Carl Vinson is expected to real the Korean Peninsula, and one day after China has speculated NK could conduct another nuclear test to celebrate an important army holiday.

Meanwhile, in its latest cover, Germany"s Spiegel magazine has put Trump and Kim on the same side of the boat, or in this case bomb.

F-18 Fighter Jet From Carl Vinson Carrier Crashes Off The Philippines

With the USS Carl Vinson finally on its way to North Korea after some initial "miscommunications" between the White House and the Pentagon, on Friday the aircraft carrier suffered another embarrassing moment when a F-18 pilot was forced to eject during an attempted landing on the deck of the Vinson in the Celebes Sea, south of the Philippines, the US Navy said in a statement. The pilot was recovered safely.

According to the US 7th Fleet Command, the incident occurred as the fighter jet was on final approach after "conducting routine flight operations" and is currently under investigation. The pilot is being assessed by the medical team on board USS Carl Vinson and there are no apparent injuries at this time. Full statement below:

USS Carl Vinson Pilot Ejects Safely at Sea

A pilot safely ejected and was quickly recovered by a helicopter assigned to HSC-4 aboard USS Carl Vinson while conducting routine flight operations during a transit in the Celebes Sea.

The incident occurred as the F/A-18E assigned to Carrier Air Wing 2 was on final approach to USS Carl Vinson. The incident is currently under investigation. The pilot is being assessed by the medical team on board USS Carl Vinson and there are no apparent injuries at this time.

The carrier group, currently located in proximity to the Philippines, is “steaming out toward the Sea of Japan” the White House said earlier this month. On April 15, however, the Navy posted a photograph on Flickr with a description placing the Carl Vinson in the Sunda Strait, several hundred miles south of Singapore. The Carl Vinson battle group was deployed in East Asia in January. According to the US Navy, the carrier is accompanied by the missile cruiser USS Lake Champlain, and destroyers USS Wayne E. Meyer and USS Michael Murphy.

As showed yesterday, the current active deployment of the US naval fleet is as follows:

China, Russia Dispatch Naval Vessels To Track USS Carl Vinson To Korean Peninsula

Video has been released allegedly showing a mass military mobilization in Vladivostok, Russia, just eight miles from the border with North Korea, as the world edges towards war.

As The Express reports, the dramatic move, unconfirmed by the Russian government, was spotted by residents in the border city and posted on social media.

According to the reports, a military convoy of eight surface-to-air missiles, part of Russian Air Defence, were on the move.

The S400 anti-aircraft missiles were moved to Vladivostok, where Vladimir Putin already has a major navy base.

Furthermore, As the following footage shows (beginning at aorund 1:20 below) Chinese military assets are also being moved to the North Korean border...

In addition to military forces, AP reports China and Russia have dispatched intelligence-gathering vessels from their navies to chase the USS Carl Vinson nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, which is heading toward waters near the Korean Peninsula, multiple sources of the Japanese government revealed to The Yomiuri Shimbun.

It appears that both countries aim to probe the movements of the United States, which is showing a stance of not excluding military action against North Korea. The Self-Defense Forces are strengthening warning and surveillance activities in the waters and airspace around the area, according to the sources.

The aircraft carrier strike group, composed of the Carl Vinson at its core with guided-missile destroyers and other vessels, is understood to be around the East China Sea and heading north toward waters near the Korean Peninsula.

The dispatch of the intelligence-gathering vessels appears to be partly aimed at sending a warning signal to the United States.

Yonhap reports that the USS Carl Vinson is expected to reach South Korea"s east coast by April 25th.