North Korea is holding a key party meeting to review its defense strategy amid rising tensions on the Peninsula.
Pyongyang says North Korean leader Kim Jong-un participated in the opening of the event on Friday. North Korean media say the meeting comes against the backdrop of changing international situation and Pyongyang’s growing ties with Moscow and Beijing. Tensions keep growing on the Korean Peninsula since the arrival of a U-S nuclear-powered submarine in South Korea on Friday. The deployment of U-S-S Michigan is part of a deal Seoul inked with Washington in April in the wake of Pyongyang’s missile and nuclear programs. North Korea says its missile launches are in response to joint military drills by the U-S and its regional allies. It says the maneuvers threaten its security and are actually rehearsals for an invasion.