For the first time in five years, US and Japanese warships performed combined naval maneuvers in waters between Japan and the Korean peninsula, amid rising regional tensions.
The drills, which took place in the Sea of Japan on Tuesday and yesterday, were commanded by the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group and included the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force. It was the first time such a drill has been held in the area since 2017, and it seemed to be aimed at deterring North Korea provocations.
North Korea Celebrates Kim Jong Un's 10 Years in Power
Pyongyang may launch another missile or maybe perform a nuclear test this week, according to defense experts. Tomorrow is North Korea's "Day of the Sun," commemorating the 110th birthday of Kim Il-sung, the country's founding leader and Kim Jong Un's grandfather.
For the first time since Pyongyang conducted atomic tests and launched an intercontinental ballistic missile in 2017, a US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier has been spotted in the Sea of Japan. In March, Washington held training drills in the Yellow Sea west of the Korean Peninsula with the Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier, as per Big News Network.
To commemorate Kim Jong Un's ten years as head of the governing Workers' Party of Korea, North Korea praised his leadership in creating nuclear weapons, lauded his political achievements, and revealed new portraits and exhibitions.
Choe Ryong Hae, a member of the WPK Central Committee's Presidium and one of Kim's most senior officials, complimented the North Korean leader as "a talented thinker and theoretician, excellent statesman, and peerlessly superb commander" in a speech at a national assembly on Sunday.
Per IOL, the celebrations kicked off a week of commemorations that will conclude on Friday.
North Korean troops have been seen practicing for a military parade that might take place this week, ccording to commercial satellite images. According to analysts, there are hints that North Korea may demonstrate its intercontinental ballistic missiles at the event.
North Korea sounded the alarm in Seoul, Tokyo, and Washington last month when it conducted a complete ICBM launch for the first time since 2017, breaking a self-imposed moratorium on such testing.
Kim Jong Un Blows up Resort, a Symbol of Unity With South Korea
Meanwhile, North Korea has detonated explosives to demolish a tourist golf resort that was once a symbol of ties with South Korea.
The floating Haegumgang Hotel, a part of a $75 million tourist resort in Mount Kumgang's highlands, was largely demolished over the weekend, according to satellite photos.
According to Cha Deok-cheol, a spokesperson for South Korea's Unification Ministry, the unilateral act of deconstructing the hotel "obviously goes against the aim of collaborative inter-Korean initiatives based on mutual respect and dialogue."
They utilized an intergovernmental hotline to demand explanations for the destruction of South Korean enterprises that were founded and operated by Southern corporations to aid financial interaction between the north and south.
In October 2019, Kim Jong Un paid a visit to Mt Kumgang and dispatched bulldozers to demolish the South's "shabby" construction work. After criticizing South Korean-built hotels as "extremely bad," the dictator demanded that they be dismantled and replaced, Daily Mail reported.
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