USS Nimitz arrives in Korea

SEOUL, South Korea — Ahead of a nuclear-powered U.S. carrier’s visit to South Korea, North Korea on Friday called this week’s summit between the U.S. and South Korean presidents a prelude to war against Pyongyang. Yet it also said it was waiting “with patience” to see if Seoul changes its policies.

The North described South Korean President Park Geun-hye’s visit to Washington as a “despicable sycophantic trip to please her master.”

The summit between the two allies is “a curtain-raiser to a dangerous war to invade” the North, an unnamed spokesman for the North’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea told the official Korean Central News Agency. The committee deals with cross-border relations, which are at a low point.

At the same time, the North Korean spokesman said Pyongyang is “following the present authorities in South Korea with patience,” arguing that it is not Pyongyang but Seoul that should change its stance.

North Korea unleashed a flurry of war threats last month, but there has been a lull of late. There are some tentative signs of interest in diplomacy, though Pyongyang has also kept up its criticism of both Seoul and Pyongyang.

North Korea previously criticized the visit of the Everett-based nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Nimitz. It and three other ships arrived Saturday in the southeastern port city of Busan in a show of U.S. commitment in the region, the U.S.-South Korean Combined Forces Command said.

Wee Yong-sub, deputy spokesman for the South Korean Defense Ministry, said Friday that the carrier will participate in a variety of annual naval exercises, including search and rescue operations.

North Korea’s military earlier this week threatened the United States and South Korea over their joint naval drills taking place this week, including anti-submarine drills ending Friday in tense Yellow Sea waters.

Pyongyang sees American use of nuclear assets in the region as aimed at toppling its government. Amid North Korean threats of nuclear war in March, Washington took the unusual step of announcing the participation in big U.S.-South Korean military drills of nuclear-capable B-52 and B-2 bombers, drawing a furious response from Pyongyang.

North Korea’s Foreign Ministry said Friday that those drills posed the “biggest-ever nuclear threat” to Pyongyang, urging President Barack Obama to reverse what it called a hostile U.S. posture toward the North.

Obama and Park met Tuesday in Washington and warned Pyongyang against nuclear provocations. Pyongyang conducted its third nuclear test in February and triggered a new round of U.N. sanctions against it.

Park and Obama said after their summit that they are open to dialogue if Pyongyang moves toward nuclear dismantlement.

Park took office in February with a pledge to build trust with North Korea through aid and other civilian exchanges. In a speech to Congress on Wednesday, she said the North’s twin goals of developing nuclear arms and pursuing economic improvement are incompatible.

The North Korean reunification spokesman called that slander.

On Monday, Glyn Davies, top U.S. envoy dealing with North Korea, will travel to Seoul to meet with senior officials as part of a three-day trip that includes China and Japan, the State Department said.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Everett mall renderings from Brixton Capital. (Photo provided by the City of Everett)
Topgolf at the Everett Mall? Mayor’s hint still unconfirmed

After Cassie Franklin’s annual address, rumors circled about what “top” entertainment tenant could be landing at Everett Mall.

Everett
Everett man sentenced to 3 years of probation for mutilating animals

In 2022, neighbors reported Blayne Perez, 35, was shooting and torturing wildlife in north Everett.

The Washington State University Snohomish County Extension building at McCollum Park is located in an area Snohomish County is considering for the location of the Farm and Food Center on Thursday, March 28, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Year-round indoor farmers market inches closer to reality near Mill Creek

The Snohomish County Farm and Food Center received $5 million in federal funding. The county hopes to begin building in 2026.

Dorothy Crossman rides up on her bike to turn in her ballot  on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett leaders plan to ask voters for property tax increase

City officials will spend weeks hammering out details of a ballot measure, as Everett faces a $12.6 million deficit.

Starbucks employee Zach Gabelein outside of the Mill Creek location where he works on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 in Mill Creek, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mill Creek Starbucks votes 21-1 to form union

“We obviously are kind of on the high of that win,” store bargaining delegate Zach Gabelein said.

Lynnwood police respond to a collision on highway 99 at 176 street SW. (Photo provided by Lynnwood Police)
Police: Teen in stolen car flees cops, causes crash in Lynnwood

The crash blocked traffic for over an hour at 176th Street SW. The boy, 16, was arrested on felony warrants.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.