all eyes on north korea
As Trump prepares for Asia trip, North Korea may be planning another missile test
South Korea's spy agency warned lawmakers Thursday that it suspects North Korea may be readying another missile test, Reuters reports. "The active movement of vehicles around the missile research institute in Pyongyang" raises the possibility, Reuters says, just days before President Trump is expected to visit South Korea Nov. 7-8 as part of his nearly two-week trip to five Asian countries.
North Korea has not launched a missile since it fired one over Japan on Sept. 15, but it has recently warned the world to take "literally" the country's threat to test a nuclear weapon above ground. Trump will address the South Korean National Assembly on Nov. 8 in a speech where he plans to call for "maximizing" pressure on Pyongyang.
China was the last country to conduct an above ground nuclear test, in 1980. A North Korean above ground nuclear test would be seen as a significant escalation of tensions between the United States and North Korea.