VIDEO: North Korea’s Live-Fire Artillery Drills Erupt As U.S. Nuclear Sub Arrives In South Korea

There have been several developments in the last 24 hours that indicate an escalation of the already fierce tensions between the United States and North Korea. On Tuesday, North Korea conducted massive live-fire drills that involved up to 400 artillery region of Wonsan, on the eastern side of the isolated nation. Kim Jong Un is said that he may have been in attendance to watch the drills. Pyongyang stated that the drills were for Armed Forces Day and to commemorate the 85th anniversary of the founding of North Korean army.

The South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff were “closely monitoring the North Korean military’s movements” and remained “firmly prepared.”

At the same time as the drills, the USS Michigan, a nuclear-powered Ohio class submarine, pulled into the South Korean port of Busan.

A statement from U.S. Naval Forces Korea called the sub’s visit “routine.”

“U.S. Navy ships and submarines routinely make port calls in a variety of locations,” Lieutenant commander Matt Knight with U.S. Pacific Fleet told Fox News. “As a matter of routine, we do not discuss future operations or the details regarding the operations of our submarines. USS Michigan is currently on a routine deployment to the Indo-Asia-Pacific.”

The USS Michigan is equipped with superior communications capabilities and is armed with tactical missiles. The Ohio class subs are the largest submarines ever built for the U.S. Navy and are capable of carrying ballistic missiles fitted with nuclear warheads.

From Wikipedia:

“Trident submarines, and provide the sea-based leg of the U.S. nuclear triad. Each SSBN submarine is armed with up to 24 Trident II submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBM). Each SSGN is capable of carrying 154 Tomahawk cruise missiles, plus a complement of Harpoon missiles to be fired through their torpedo tubes.”

The 560-foot-long, 18,000-ton SS Michigan submarine will later join the USS Vinson aircraft carrier strike group for exercises in the Sea of Japan for joint drills with two Japanese destroyers.

Were The Missiles In North Korea’s Parade Fake And Actually Wooden Boxes?

Another pertinent piece of news is that President Donald Trump is meeting with the entire U.S. Senate at the White House on Wednesday regarding the escalating situation with North Korea. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Joseph Dunford and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats are expected to speak to lawmakers. A meeting of this magnitude where all 100 Senators go to the White House is said to be extrmely rare.

Over the weekend, President Trump spoke by phone with Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe regarding North Korea. President Xi told Trump that China strongly opposed North Korea’s nuclear weapons program and hoped “all parties will exercise restraint and avoid aggravating the situation.”

The Daily Star is reporting that the U.S. will be holding drills in South Korea on evacuating civilians from the peninsula. The drills, which are called the Courageous Channel operation, will prepare for the safe exit of around 230,000 Americans from the peninsula in case of a military conflict.

The Courageous Channel operation are said to begin in June and were held in October last year after North Korea’s fifth nuclear test in September.

On Saturday, North Korea detained an American at Pyongyang International Airport and also threatened Australia with nuclear war if “the present Government of Australia is blindly and zealously toeing the U.S. line.”

A week ago, Pyongyang released a propaganda video of North Korean nukes destroying the United States. However, North Korea’s long-range capabilities suggest they would not be able to stage a missile attack from their mainland.

[protected-iframe id=”c3cbdd1bdae3f7f29d3ae923d6469607-97886205-93291949″ info=”https://w.graphiq.com/w/liPfZdQgLat” width=”600″ height=”475″ frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no”]

Check out all of the most recent developments regarding the growing tensions in North Korea HERE.

[FoxNews/CNN/Fortune]