Top Trump administration officials will hold a rare briefing on Wednesday at the White House for the entire US Senate on the situation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), senior Senate aides said on Monday.
All 100 senators have been asked to the White House for the briefing by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats and General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the aides said.
While top administration officials routinely travel to Capitol Hill to address members of Congress on foreign policy and national security matters, it is unusual for the entire 100-member Senate to go to such an event at the White House, and for those four top officials to be involved.
US officials have expressed mounting concern over the DPRK's nuclear and missile tests, and its threats to attack the United States and its Asian allies.
President Donald Trump criticized the DPRK's "continued belligerence" and said its actions were destabilizing during a telephone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday, the White House said.
The briefing will take place at 3:00 p.m. EDT.
House aides said they were working with the White House to set a similar briefing for members of the House of Representatives.
Trump calls for new UN sanctions against DPRK
Trump said on Monday the UN Security Council must be prepared to impose new sanctions on the DPRK as concerns mount that it may test a sixth nuclear bomb as early as Tuesday.
"The status quo in North Korea is also unacceptable," Trump told a meeting with the 15 UN Security Council ambassadors, including China and Russia, at the White House. "The council must be prepared to impose additional and stronger sanctions on North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile programs."
"This is a real threat to the world, whether we want to talk about it or not. North Korea is a big world problem and it's a problem that we have to finally solve," he said. “People put blindfolds on for decades and now it’s time to solve the problem.”
US officials have told Reuters tougher sanctions could include an oil embargo, banning the DPRK's airline and intercepting cargo ships.
The State Department said US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson would chair a special ministerial meeting of the Security Council on the DPRK on Friday to discuss ways to maximize the impact of existing sanctions and show "resolve to respond to further provocations with appropriate new measures".
(Source: Reuters)
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