china talked to trump on the phone about finding a peaceful solution to North Korea on Saturday. The phone call between the two leaders was reported by Xinhua News. Reuters later confirmed the conversation that focussed on finding a peaceful solution to the North Korea nuclear threat.

This came after Trump posted a tweet on Friday where he said that the U.S.

Military was "locked and loaded."

North Korea and Trump

North Korea has been belligerent about their nuclear missile threat and has threatened to attack countries as diverse as the USA, Australia, Japan and parts of Europe. Nevertheless, Pyongyang seems to be claiming that the threat actually comes from the USA. This claim that Trump is forcing the North to fire nuclear missiles is confusing many people.

China and their stand on USA first strike

China is asking Trump to take a negotiated and peaceful approach to the North Korean threat, but it might not have stopped there.

A recent editorial in a Chinese State-owned newspaper was picked up by the Washington Post who published what may very well be China's stance on the Korean peninsula and the mounting threat: “China should also make clear that if North Korea launches missiles that threaten U.S. soil first and the U.S. retaliates, China will stay neutral.

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The editorial added. “If the U.S. and South Korea carry out strikes and try to overthrow the North Korean regime and change the political pattern of the Korean Peninsula, China will prevent them from doing so."

The Washingtonton Post did write that the source of this information was probably close to the official policy as, "The Global Times newspaper is not an official mouthpiece of the Communist Party, but in this case, its editorial probably does reflect government policy, experts said."

North Korea equipping submarines with missiles?

While a war of words heightens tension across the world, The John Hopkins Korea blog 38 North released information that an expert believes that images taken by satellites show North Korea could be planning to put missiles on their submarines.

The 38 North produced an article along with the images of North Korean shipyards which they analyzed with input from Joseph S. Bermudez Jr. an internationally recognized analyst, award winning author and lecturer on Korean defense and intelligence affairs.

The article suggests that North Korea may be "accelerating the development of the sea-based leg of its nuclear forces." To back this assumption up, it was pointed out that netting and some type of camouflage have been erected which makes it hard to see the SINPO-class submarine in the harbor and what might actually be happening on board the vessel.

According to 38 North, "This was last done prior to the July 9, 2016, test of the Pukguksong-1, suggesting that the North may be preparing for a new series of “at sea” test launches."
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