FILE - This combination of file photos shows U.S. President Donald Trump on March 28, 2017, in Washington, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Feb. 22, 2017, in Beijing. Trump is suggesting ahead... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - This combination of file photos shows U.S. President Donald Trump on March 28, 2017, in Washington, left, and Chinese President Xi Jinping on Feb. 22, 2017, in Beijing. Trump is suggesting ahead... (Associated Press) 
 
 TOKYO (AP) — President Donald Trump is suggesting ahead of his meeting later this week with Chinese President Xi Jinping that he can handle Washington's North Korea problem with or without Beijing's help — "totally." 
 
 Is the self-proclaimed master of the deal doing what he does best — talking up his game? 
 
 Even Trump said going it alone is not his Plan A. While declaring the U.S. is ready to deal with Pyongyang on its own, Trump stressed in an interview with the Financial Times that he'd rather — much rather, actually — have Beijing on board. China, he noted, has the most influence over the North economically and politically. 
 
 But can he sway Beijing into doing more of what Washington wants? The big meeting is set to take place at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in South Florida on Thursday and Friday. 
 
 Here's a closer look at some of the rhetoric being tossed around, by Trump in the interview released Sunday, and by a top U.S. official: 
 
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 TRUMP: "China has great influence over North Korea. And China will either decide to help us with North Korea, or they won't. And if they do that will be very good for China, and if they don't it won't be good for anyone." 
 
 THE CONTEXT: China is without doubt a lifeline for North Korea. It accounts for about 90 percent of the North's trade and is a key supplier of fuel and many of the other necessities that keep the North's economy running. If Beijing were to aggressively clamp down on all its trade with Pyongyang, North Korea would certainly feel the pain — and possibly collapse. 
 
 The question, however, is what Trump means by "help." 
 
 Sanctions advocates in the U.S. believe that with just the right amount of pressure, North Korea can be coerced into giving up its nuclear weapons. But that's not a certainty. Too much pressure could also lead to open conflict with a tremendously high cost in casualties and deaths, wreaking havoc on the Chinese, South Korean and Japanese — and by extension U.S. — economies. A North Korean implosion, meanwhile, could be even more problematic, causing a massive refugee crisis. As Beijing well knows, that would impact China far more dramatically than the faraway U.S. 
 
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 TRUMP: According to the Financial Times report, when pressed on whether the U.S. really could resolve the North Korean denuclearization problem without China, he said, "Totally." 
 
 "I don't have to say any more. Totally." 
 
 THE CONTEXT: So there it is, the tease. 
 
 If Trump does have a dramatic solution to this problem, it will have to be pretty clever. And the stakes are extremely high. 
 
 Back in 1994, President Bill Clinton considered a pre-emptive strike to take out North Korea's nuclear weapons' building capability. That was ruled out as too risky. He chose negotiations, and those failed, too, after George W. Bush took over. 
 
 Fast forward to today, and North Korea has a nuclear arsenal. It may already be able to hit Japan and the tens of thousands of U.S. troops based there with nuclear warheads. It could be just a few years — if that — away from having an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of hitting the U.S. mainland. 
 
 Whatever Trump has in mind, any change in the status quo that comes about without China's participation, or Russia's, is likely to antagonize North Korea's two nuclear-armed neighbors. 
 
 Trump may not need to tell a newspaper what his plan is. But if he's got one, leaders across Asia are all ears. 
 
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 AND P.S., FROM YOUR U.N. AMBASSADOR: Trump's ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, also had some tough talk over the weekend — but it conflicted with the president's. 
 
 She said on ABC's "This Week" that China needs "to show us how concerned they are ... They need to put pressure on North Korea. The only country that can stop North Korea is China, and they know that." 
 
 THE CONTEXT: If Haley is right and China is the only country that can stop North Korea, it stands to reason the U.S. can't resolve this issue alone. And no one expects it to. 
 
 U.N. resolutions and unilateral sanctions imposed on North Korea have so far failed to deter it from conducting nuclear and missile tests. Last year, the North conducted two nuclear tests and two dozen tests of ballistic missiles. During his swing through Asia last month, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the past 20 years of U.S. policy toward North Korea have been a failure. In fact, that could be extended all the way back to President Truman and the Korean War, which — thanks to China's decision to back the North — ended not in a peace treaty in 1953 but in an armistice. 
 
 So what would the U.S. actually do if China doesn't cooperate? 
 
 "China has to cooperate," Haley said. ||||| U.S. President Donald Trump’s tough but vague talk on North Korea, in advance of this week’s visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping, is fueling a wide range of speculation that he may pursue a major policy shift that could either lead to a grand bargain with Beijing or start a preemptive war. 
 
 In an interview with London's Financial Times on Sunday, Trump said that if China is not going to solve the problem of North Korea, "we will." He also noted China’s “great influence over North Korea" and warned that if Beijing did not help resolve the issue of Pyongyang’s rapidly advancing nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities, that “it won't be good for anyone." 
 
 Halting North Korea’s nuclear program and preventing the Kim Jong Un government from developing a nuclear tipped intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that could strike the U.S. mainland, is expected to be a key issue Trump and Xi will discuss when the two leaders meet at the American president’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida Thursday. 
 
 Tillerson and Mattis 
 
 The recent visits to the region by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defense James Mattis have helped reassure leaders in Beijing, Tokyo and Seoul that Washington will continue to prioritize increasing economic sanctions to pressure Pyongyang to change its behavior and concede to give up its nuclear ambitions for economic aid and security guarantees. 
 
 Also, a recent U.S. national security review of North Korea policy reportedly emphasized sanctions and increasing pressure on Beijing by targeting more Chinese banks and firms that do business with North Korea. 
 
 Few expect Trump and Xi to reach a significant breakthrough on North Korea during their initial meeting. Beijing has long been unwilling to do anything that may destabilize the North and send millions of refugees across the border. 
 
 And there will be other issues on the table as well, like reducing China’s aggressive military moves in the South China Sea over disputed territorial claims, and trying to narrow the U.S. trade deficit with China, which was a major campaign issue for Trump. 
 
 Grand bargain 
 
 But given the Trump administration’s emphasis that all options are on the table to deal with the North Korean threat, there is speculation he may seek a multi-layered deal with Xi that would include trade and regional security issues. 
 
 “The question is whether Washington is willing to, and able to, make concessions giving Beijing enough incentives so that the Chinese government will make a fundamental shift in its dealings with the leadership in Pyongyang,” said Bong Young-shik with the Yonsei University Institute for North Korean Studies in Seoul. 
 
 Bong said Washington would likely need to offer some degree of support for Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea, for Taiwan and to back off from criticizing China’s human rights record, to motivate China to take stronger actions against North Korea. 
 
 In the Financial Time interview Trump, the former real estate developer who wrote the book The Art of The Deal said, “Trade is the incentive,” the U.S. will use in negotiations with China. 
 
 When asked about a "grand bargain" in which China would pressure Pyongyang in return for a U.S. promise to later remove troops from the Korean peninsula, the newspaper quoted Trump as saying: "Well if China is not going to solve North Korea, we will. That is all I am telling you." 
 
 Military option 
 
 The president’s uncompromising tone and comments by officials in his administration have also added to speculation that Trump may support the use of force to resolve the North Korean threat. 
 
 When Tillerson was in Seoul recently he said if North Korea elevates “the threat of their weapons program to a level that we believe requires action,that option is on the table.” 
 
 James Nolt, an international political economy analyst with the World Policy Institute, is concerned hawks in the Trump administration may likely consider launching preemptive military strikes against a possible North Korean ICBM launch to be an acceptable risk to maintain U.S. security. 
 
 “I think that is a very plausible action because it doesn’t look necessarily warlike. It looks like a relatively reasonable response to a threat, and yet undoubtedly from North Korea it’s going to look like it’s very provocative,” said Nolt. 
 
 Many in South Korea and Japan argue that preemptive military action against North Korea would fail to end the nuclear threat, as many of the country’s nuclear and missile facilities are hidden in fortified underground bunkers. And worse, analysts say, a U.S. attack could draw China and the entire region into a full-scale nuclear war that would kill millions. 
 
 Youmi Kim contributed to this report ||||| SEOUL, South Korea — A senior North Korean defector has told NBC News that the country's "desperate" dictator is prepared to use nuclear weapons to strike the United States and its allies. 
 
 Thae Yong Ho is the most high profile North Korean defector in two decades, meaning he is able to give a rare insight into the secretive, authoritarian regime. 
 
 According to Thae, North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un is "desperate in maintaining his rule by relying on his [development of] nuclear weapons and ICBM." He was using an acronym for intercontinental ballistic missiles — a long range rocket that in theory would be capable of hitting the U.S. 
 
 NBC Nightly News Exclusive: Lester Holt anchors from South Korea on Monday and Tuesday, April 3 and 4, at 6:30pm ET. 
 
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 "Once he sees that there is any kind of sign of a tank or an imminent threat from America, then he would use his nuclear weapons with ICBM," he added in an exclusive interview on Sunday. 
 
 Thae was living in London and serving as North Korea's deputy ambassador to the United Kingdom when he and his family defected to South Korea and were announced to the world in August. 
 
 He was not directly involved in North Korea's weapons program but believes his country "has reached a very significant level of nuclear development." 
 
 North Korea is estimated to have upward of eight nuclear weapons but has not demonstrated the ability to attach them to a long-range rocket, an ICBM, capable of hitting the U.S. 
 
 “ Kim Jong Un is a man who can do anything beyond the normal imagination” 
 
 Analysts are unsure exactly how close the regime is to achieving this aim, but a senior official told NBC News in January that his government was ready to test-fire an ICMB "at any time, at any place." 
 
 Adm. Scott Swift, commander of the U.S. Pacific Fleet, told NBC News that American officials were particularly troubled by this latest threat. 
 
 "They have the nuclear capability — they've demonstrated that," he said. "And then, where they're going with the miniaturization of that, whether they can actually weaponize a missile, that's what's driving the current concern." 
 
 PHOTOS: The Tangled History of North Korea’s Kim Jong Un 
 
 Thae's interview with NBC News comes against a backdrop of rising tensions surrounding North Korea, which has significantly increased its missile and nuclear tests under Kim's rule. 
 
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 President Donald Trump told the Financial Times newspaper on Monday that "something had to be done" about North Korea. This came after Defense Secretary James Mattis said the country "has got to be stopped" and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said military action was "on the table." 
 
 "It does feel more dangerous — I'll give you three reasons," according to Adm. James Stavridis, an NBC News analyst and dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in Massachusetts. "One is [Kim's] own precarious situation in command of the nation. Number two is the instability in South Korea. We've just seen the South Korean president indicted, arrested, and incarcerated." 
 
 "And, number three, a new and more aggressive American foreign policy coming from Washington," he added. 
 
 Lester Holt walks with North Korean defector Thae Yong Ho in Seoul. NBC News 
 
 Some analysts have warned that military action against the country might be very difficult and even disastrous. An invasion could risk a retaliatory strike against U.S. allies of Japan and South Korea, whose capital, Seoul, is just 50 miles from the border. 
 
 Nonetheless, Thae warned America and its allies to be prepared. 
 
 "If Kim Jong Un has nuclear weapons and ICBMs, he can do anything," he said. "So, I think the world should be ready to deal with this kind of person." 
 
 He added that "Kim Jong Un is a man who can do anything beyond the normal imagination" and that "the final and the real solution to the North Korean nuclear issue is to eliminate Kim Jong Un from the post." 
 
 Kim came to power in 2012 and has defined his strongman premiership by the pursuit of a nuclear weapon that can hit the U.S. He has conducted more missile tests than in the rest of the country's history combined, and three of North Korea's five nuclear tests came under his watch. 
 
 According to Thae, Kim is obsessed with obtaining nukes because he saw what happened to Iraq's Saddam Hussein and Libya's Moammar Gadhafi, both of whom abandoned their countries' weapons of mass destruction programs and then were overthrown by Western-backed forces. 
 
 “ Our freedom here is achieved at the cost of the sacrifice of my family members left in North Korea” 
 
 Many analysts agree that Kim sees a nuclear weapon — and the retaliatory threat it poses — as an insurance policy against a similar strategy being pursued against him. 
 
 "That's why Kim Jong Un strongly believes that only a nuclear weapon can guarantee his rule," Thae said. 
 
 According to the former diplomat, the world should look to Kim's past actions to see what he is capable of. The young leader has reportedly been responsible for purges and executions of top officials and even members of his own family. 
 
 Last month, according to U.S. and South Korean intelligence officials, he masterminded the assassination of his own half-brother, Kim Jong Nam, at an airport in Malaysia. 
 
 "Kim Jong Un is a person who did not even hesitate to kill his uncle and a few weeks ago, even his half-brother," Thae said. "So, he is a man who can do anything to remove [anyone in] his way." 
 
 North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un attends a competition between tank units from the Korean People's Army this year. KCNA via AFP/Getty Images 
 
 Since his defection Thae has been making media appearances and giving talks denouncing North Korea's controlling and often brutal society. For this reason he believes he could be the next victim. 
 
 "I am already a marked man," he said. "Kim Jong Un wants to eliminate any person or any country which poses a threat to him. And I think I am really a great threat to him." 
 
 Thae was the highest-ranking North Korean official to abandon the regime and enter public life in South Korea since the 1997 defection of Hwang Jang Yop, who was responsible for crafting "Juche" — North Korea's state ideology, which blends elements of Marxism with ultra-nationalism. 
 
 He made the decision to switch sides, he said, after his two sons began asking questions about why North Korea did not allow the internet, why there was no proper legal system and why officials were executed without trial. 
 
 His sons also complained they were being mocked by their British friends. 
 
 "All of my family members were a little bit frightened, you know, on that day," he said of the moment he decided to escape. "But I always told them that we have to try to be as peaceful as possible. We should carry the normal faces and normal feelings so that our plan of defection should not be noticed by anyone in the embassy." 
 
 This came at a high price, however. He was able to escape with his wife and children — but he fears his brother and sister in North Korea have been punished for his actions. 
 
 "Our freedom here is achieved at the cost of the sacrifice of my family members left in North Korea," he said. "When a defection of my level happens, the North Korean regime usually sends the family members of high officials, defectors, to remote areas or labor camps and, to some extent, even to political prison camps as well." 
 
 This fate is not unique. More than 100,000 people are believed to have been detained in North Korea's notorious gulags, where they are subjected to forced labor, torture and executions — treatment the United Nations said was "strikingly similar" to the atrocities of Nazi Germany. 
 
 Families are taken away by the country's secret police for arbitrary crimes such as "gossiping" about the state. 
 
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 This is all part of the dictatorship's attempt to restrict information reaching North Korean families from the outside world. Most people cannot use the internet or access foreign media — Kim's attempt to maintain the pretense that his country is prosperous and the Western world is failing. 
 
 In all, North Korea "remains one of the most repressive states in the world," according to Human Rights Watch. 
 
 But according to Thae, the mask is slipping. More and more, North Koreans are able to watch South Korean films, giving them a true picture of their far more prosperous neighbor. 
 
 "I'm absolutely sure that once North Korean people are educated enough, then they may stand up," according to the former ambassador. "North Korean population now knows well that South Korea is democratic, the society and economy here are very well." 
 
 This, Thae said, "has already made the North Korean population not believe what the regime has been teaching and has been brainwashing them." 
 
 He added: "I think this is really a great change in people's mind, because they do not believe in the government's propaganda system." 
 
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 In this shift may even lie the seeds of fundamental change in North Korea, according to Thae. 
 
 "I think that is very important. And once the people do not believe in what the leadership is saying, then there is a great possibility for possible uprising: what happened in Soviet Union, what happened in communist system in Eastern Europe," he said. 
 
 "Because when the people in those Eastern European countries knew that the Western Europe were much better than Eastern Europe — the democratic society was much better than communist society and one-party system — all of a sudden people stood up against the system," he added. "These things could also happen in North Korea." 
 
 Thae said that he and other defectors can play a crucial part removing Kim. 
 
 "Every day I am living in order to accelerate the speed of my return home," he said. "I think defectors like me, we should all unite together to bring down Kim Jong Un's regime." ||||| The New York Times is running with a story about how someone identified as a North Korean diplomat was advertising the availability of 20 lbs a month of lithium 6. As quite possibly the only economics writer extant who as bribed a North Korean diplomat while doing a metals deal this might be a good time for me to point out that this could well be not quite what the NY Times thinks it is. I should point out that the bribery took place some time ago, when it was still entirely legal for a Briton to bribe a foreigner, yea even if they were a government employee. It might not have been quite so legal from the North Korean end but so be it. 
 
 For the gentlemen in the intelligence agencies no, the metals had nothing at all to do with anything nuclear, I would already have told you if they did. 
 
 Still, I do know my way around this part of the metals trade, I've held nuclear material licences for example. I've even had clients who used lithium 6 for resolutely non-nuclear uses. To finish the circle, no I've never dealt in lithium 6 itself. 
 
 As the Times says: 
 
 The online ad reads like something only a metallurgist could love: an offer to sell 22 pounds of highly pure lithium 6 every month, set for delivery from the port of Dandong, China. But it caught the attention of intelligence agencies around the world for a simple reason: Lithium 6 offers a fast way to turn an ordinary atom bomb into a hydrogen bomb, magnifying its destructive power by up to 1,000 times. The seller listed in the ad — who even provided his cellphone number — was identified in a recent United Nations report as the third secretary in the North Korean Embassy in Beijing. 
 
 I don't doubt in the slightest the existence of the ad nor the identification of the person at the other end of that cellphone number. This though looks to me on more shaky ground: 
 
 But experts say the lithium ad — with its implication that the North is happy to sell an excess supply of the precious material — suggests that it is far too late to prevent the nation from becoming an advanced nuclear power. 
 
 I can think of at least three explanations for such an ad. 
 
 As background, lithium 6 is not difficult to make. There's a trick to it, yes, it's fiddly, but you don't need anything particularly complex. An adequate supply of mercury is really the thing that you need. It is absolutely not like enriched uranium, where you need a horribly expensive separation plant to produce it, or plutonium, where you've first got to have a nuclear reactor of the right type. Lithium 6 is something a decently equipped lab could produce. 
 
 So, the existence of lithium 6 does not prove, by any means, that someone has cracked a difficult part of the nuclear bomb making process. It most certainly doesn't say that someone has cracked building a hydrogen bomb, which is one of the uses of lithium 6. 
 
 However, the other uses are pretty trivial and the only reason you might have lithium 6 in volume (and 20 lbs a month is volume for this sort of thing) is because you are either trying to make H bombs or because you want someone to think that you are. ||||| (CNN) US President Donald Trump says he stands ready to fix the nuclear threat posed by North Korea -- with or without China. 
 
 Trump, who will meet with China's President at his Mar-A-Lago estate this week, declared Sunday that he would be willing to go it alone to restrain the secretive country's nuclear weapons program should Beijing fail to act. 
 
 "If China is not going to solve North Korea, we will," Trump told the Financial Times in an interview. 
 
 Trump didn't elaborate on exactly how he plans to stop North Korea leader Kim Jong Un from developing his arsenal. Some analysts have suggested his cryptic comments could simply be a way to unbalance Xi Jinping ahead of the landmark summit on Thursday and Friday this week. 
 
 However, taking cooperation with China, North Korea's main ally and economic benefactor, out of the equation could lead to a much-needed change in dynamics with the provocative North Korean regime, said Anthony Ruggiero, a senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. 
 
 "Waiting for China to pressure North Korea didn't work for Bush, it didn't work for Obama and it won't work for Trump. We just don't have the same priorities," he said. 
 
 To date, US policy has focused on multilateral efforts -- six-country talks and United Nations sanctions -- plus waiting out the Kim regime in a policy known as strategic patience. But all these have had little effect, with North Korea ramping up its missile and nuclear programs since 2016. 
 
 So what might unilateral US action on North Korea look like? 
 
 JUST WATCHED China & North Korea: A complicated relationship Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH China & North Korea: A complicated relationship 01:13 
 
 Option 1: Engagement 
 
 "I don't think a burger and fries is going to solve this one," said Lanhee Chan, a research fellow at the Hoover Institution. 
 
 "I don't think this is one of those things that can be solved overnight, and if there is to be diplomacy it's going to have to be take place over an extended period of time and is going to have to resolve some very, very tricky issues." 
 
 Pyongyang has indicated it is open to negotiation but won't commit to complete denuclearization as a pre-condition for talks. 
 
 It may be willing to suspend its nuclear and missile programs if Washington addresses its security concerns in return, said Leon Sigal, director of the Northeast Asia Cooperative Security Project at the Social Science Research Council in New York. 
 
 "The only way out of Trump's predicament is acceptance -- resume talks with North Korea, the sooner the better, to probe whether it is willing to suspend arming," Sigal wrote in an op-ed for CNN before Trump's latest pronouncements. 
 
 Of course, this kind of strategy would be hugely risky, and the country's most recent provocations make any kind of US outreach difficult. 
 
 After a lull in activity that coincided with Trump's election, North Korea launched a new type of missile as Trump met with Japan's leader Shinzo Abe on February 12 . Since then, it has tested six missiles and conducted two rocket engine tests. 
 
 JUST WATCHED North Korea celebrates rocket engine test Replay More Videos ... MUST WATCH North Korea celebrates rocket engine test 02:20 
 
 The country's international standing has deteriorated further after the assassination of Kim's estranged half brother, Kim Jong Nam, with VX nerve agent at Kuala Lumpur International Airport . North Korea has denied any involvement. 
 
 Option 2: Tighten the screws 
 
 Ruggiero says the US needs to go after big Chinese banks and companies suspected of aiding North Korea more aggressively, citing the precedent of the financial penalties paid by European banks for dealing with Iran while US sanctions were in place. 
 
 "Trump needs to unleash the Treasury Department to investigate Chinese companies and banks, tell them it's not going to be allowed and fine them," said Ruggiero, who helped draft Iran legislation while working for Sen. Marco Rubio. 
 
 On Friday, the Treasury sanctioned 11 North Koreans and one North Korean company for their links to the country's weapons program and violating UN sanctions -- but Ruggiero said US authorities needed to focus their attention on China. 
 
 Other analysts say sanctions, no matter how sophisticated, aren't going to bring the North Korean regime to its knees. 
 
 "The bottom line is that the last thing they're going to cut is the military," said John Delury, an associate professor of Chinese studies at Yonsei University in South Korea. 
 
 Peter Layton, a visiting fellow at the Griffith Asia Institute in Australia, says the US needs to convince China that it's actively keeping an unwanted regime alive by using forums like the G20 and UN to press this message. 
 
 "Convince the Chinese leadership that it is hurting itself by helping the DPRK. Keep publicly linking Kim Jong Un to Xi Jinping, try to associate them in the global public mind as much as possible," he said. 
 
 Option 3: Military action 
 
 On his inaugural trip to Asia last month, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the US would consider military action against North Korea if provoked. 
 
 "Certainly, we do not want things to get to a military conflict ... but obviously, if North Korea takes actions that threaten the South Korean forces or our own forces, then that would be met with an appropriate response," he said. 
 
 While the US possesses overwhelming firepower compared to North Korea, any American strike on North Korea could expose South Korea to devastating casualties, analysts say. 
 
 "Everything is doable, but it all boils down to what risks you are willing to take versus the outcome you hope to achieve," said Carl Schuster, a professor at Hawaii Pacific University and former director of operations at the US Pacific Command's Joint Intelligence Center. 
 
 Photos: In the U.S. Air Force fleet B-52 Stratofortress – The first versions of this long-range heavy bomber flew in 1954. A total of 744 were built, the last of those in 1962. The Air Force maintains 58 B-52s in the active force and 18 in the Reserve. A single B-52 can carry 70,000 pounds of mixed munitions, including bombs, missiles and mines. The eight-engine jets have a range of 8,800 miles. Hide Caption 1 of 24 Photos: In the U.S. Air Force fleet The single-engine F-35A is the Air Force's eventual replacement for the F-16 and the A-10. The supersonic jets, which will be able to conduct air-to-air and air-to-ground attacks, are just beginning to enter the Air Force fleet. Here, an F-35 Lightning II from the 34th Fighter Squadron at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, flys at Royal Air Force Lakenheath, England, April 15, 2017. Hide Caption 2 of 24 Photos: In the U.S. Air Force fleet F-22 Raptor – The twin-engine F-22 stealth fighter, flown by a single pilot and armed with a 20mm cannon, heat-seeking missiles, radar-guided missiles and radar-guided bombs, can perform both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions. The service has 183 of the Raptors, which went operational in 2005. Hide Caption 3 of 24 Photos: In the U.S. Air Force fleet B-2 Spirit bomber – The four-engine B-2 heavy bomber has stealth properties that make it hard to detect on radar. Flown by a crew of two, it has an unrefueled range of 6,000 miles and can deliver both conventional and nuclear bombs. Twenty B-2s are in the active inventory. They joined the fleet in 1997. Hide Caption 4 of 24 Photos: In the U.S. Air Force fleet B-1B Lancer bomber – The four-engine jet can fly at 900 mph and carry the largest payload of bombs and missiles in the Air Force inventory. The Air Force has 62 B-1Bs in the fleet. Hide Caption 5 of 24 Photos: In the U.S. Air Force fleet F-15 Eagle – The F-15 Eagle, the Air Force's main air superiority fighter, became operational in 1975. With a crew of one or two, depending on the model, the twin-engine jets are armed with a 20mm cannon along with Sidewinder or AMRAAM missiles. The Air Force lists 249 F-15 Eagles in its inventory. Hide Caption 6 of 24 Photos: In the U.S. Air Force fleet F-15E Strike Eagle – The Strike Eagle is a version of the air superiority fighter adapted to perform ground-strike missions. With a crew of two, the twin-jet can carry and deploy most weapons in the Air Force inventory and operate in any weather. The F-15E was first delivered in 1988. The Air Force lists 219 in its fleet. Hide Caption 7 of 24 Photos: In the U.S. Air Force fleet A-10 Thunderbolt – The A-10 Thunderbolt jets, nicknamed "Warthogs," are specially designed for close air support of ground forces. Key to their armaments is a 30mm Gatling gun. The pilot is protected from ground fire by titanium armor, and the plane's fuel cells are self-sealing in case of puncture. Hide Caption 8 of 24 Photos: In the U.S. Air Force fleet RC-135U – The RC-135U Combat Sent, based at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, provides strategic electronic reconnaissance information to the president, secretary of defense, Department of Defense leaders and theater commanders. Hide Caption 9 of 24 Photos: In the U.S. Air Force fleet An F-15 Eagle takes off from the Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, flight line as two E-3 Sentries are seen in the background. Hide Caption 10 of 24 Photos: In the U.S. Air Force fleet C-130 Hercules transport – A C-130J Super Hercules from the 37th Airlift Squadron flies over Normandy, France, June 3, 2015. First delivered to the Air Force in 1956, the C-130 remains one of the service's most important airlift platforms. More than 140 are still in active units, with more than 180 in the National Guard and a hundred more in the Reserve. The C-130 is powered by four turboprop engines. Hide Caption 11 of 24 Photos: In the U.S. Air Force fleet OV-10 Bronco – A 21st Tactical Air Support Squadron OV-10 Bronco aircraft fires white phosphorus rockets to mark a target for an air strike during tactical air control training. Hide Caption 12 of 24 Photos: In the U.S. Air Force fleet A-29 Super Tucano – An A-29 Super Tucano taxis on the flightline during its first arrival, Sept. 26, 2014, at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia. Afghan Air Force pilots trained on the planes that will be used in air-to-ground attack missions in Afghanistan. Hide Caption 13 of 24 Photos: In the U.S. Air Force fleet KC-135 Stratotanker – The four-engine KC-135 joined the Air Force fleet in 1956 as both a tanker and cargo jet. It can carry up to 200,000 pounds of fuel and 83,000 pounds of cargo and passengers in a deck above the refueling system. More than 400 of the KC-135s are flown by active, Air Guard and Reserve units. Hide Caption 14 of 24 Photos: In the U.S. Air Force fleet F-16 Fighting Falcon – The single-engine jet is a mainstay of the Air Force combat fleet. It can perform both air-to-air and air-to-ground missions with its 20mm cannon and ability to carry missiles and bombs on external pods. More than 1,000 F-16s are in the Air Force inventory. Hide Caption 15 of 24 Photos: In the U.S. Air Force fleet AC-130 gunships – The AC-130H Spectre and the AC-130U Spooky gunships are designed for close air support, air interdiction and force protection. Armaments on the Spectre include 40mm and 105mm cannons. The Spooky adds a 25mm Gatling gun. Hide Caption 16 of 24 Photos: In the U.S. Air Force fleet C-17 Globemaster transport – The four-engine jet joined the Air Force fleet in 1993 with a primary mission of troop and cargo transport. Each plane can carry up to 102 troops or 170,900 pounds of cargo. The Air Force has 187 C-17s on active duty, 12 in the Air National Guard and 14 in the Reserve. Hide Caption 17 of 24 Photos: In the U.S. Air Force fleet C-5 Galaxy transport – The C-5, with a wingspan of 222 feet, a length of 247 feet and a height of 65 feet, is the largest plane in the Air Force inventory and one of the largest aircraft in the world. The first versions of the four-engine jet joined the force in 1970. The Air Force expects to have 52 versions of the latest model, the C-5M, in the fleet by 2017. Hide Caption 18 of 24 Photos: In the U.S. Air Force fleet CV-22 Osprey – The Osprey is a tiltrotor aircraft that combines vertical takeoff, hover and landing qualities of a helicopter with the normal flight characteristics of a turboprop aircraft, according to the Air Force. It is used to move troops in and out of operations as well as resupply units in the field. The Air Force has 33 Ospreys in inventory. Hide Caption 19 of 24 Photos: In the U.S. Air Force fleet E-3 Sentry AWACS – AWACS stands for airborne warning and control system. This four-engine jet, based on a Boeing 707 platform, monitors and manages battle space with its huge rotating radar dome. The planes have a flight crew of four supporting 13 to 19 specialists and controllers giving direction to units around the battle space. The Air Force has 32 E-3s in inventory. Hide Caption 20 of 24 Photos: In the U.S. Air Force fleet KC-10 Extender – Based on the DC-10 passenger jet, the triple-engine KC-10 is a gas station in the sky with the ability to carry 75 people and 170,000 pounds of cargo. In its six tanks, the KC-10 can carry up to 356,000 pounds of fuel and dispense it while airborne. The Air Force has 59 KC-10s on active duty. Hide Caption 21 of 24 Photos: In the U.S. Air Force fleet T-38 Talon – The twin-engine jet trainer, used by the Air Force to prepare pilots for the F-15E Strike Eagle, F-15C Eagle, F-16 Fighting Falcon, B-1B Lancer, A-10 Thunderbolt and F-22 Raptor, first flew in 1959. Almost 550 are in the active force. Hide Caption 22 of 24 Photos: In the U.S. Air Force fleet U-2 – The single-engine, single-pilot U-2 is used for high-altitude reconnaissance and surveillance. Flying at altitudes around 70,000 feet, pilots must wear pressure suits like those worn by astronauts. The first U-2 was flown in 1955. The planes were used on missions over the Soviet Union during the Cold War, flying too high to be reached by any adversary. The Air Force has 33 U-2s in its active inventory. Hide Caption 23 of 24 Photos: In the U.S. Air Force fleet WC-135 Constant Phoenix – The four-engine WC-135 is used to fly through airspace to detect the residue of nuclear blasts. "The aircraft is equipped with external flow-through devices to collect particulates on filter paper and a compressor system for whole air samples collected in holding spheres," the Air Force says. It has two of these jets in the active force. Hide Caption 24 of 24 
 
 In a series of reports prepared in May 2016, the Texas-based geopolitical analysis group Stratfor said the US could assemble a force that could rain down more than 600 cruise missiles and smart bombs on North Korean targets in a pulverizing first strike. 
 
 The weapons could be deployed with stealth B-2 bombers and F-22 Raptors, massive Ohio-class guided-missile submarines and a selection of cruisers and destroyers, it said. 
 
 The problem, as Stratfor points out, is that Pyongyang has mobile launch vehicles that could then plausibly send a nuclear weapon toward South Korea or Japan -- with unimaginable consequences. 
 
 Trump does have some non-lethal military options that might not result in a North Korean counterstrike, according to Layton, who is also a former Royal Australian Air Force officer. 
 
 He suggests a simple blockade of any ships leaving and entering North Korean waters. 
 
 Another more risky option is to use US warships equipped with the Aegis anti-missile system to shoot down any future North Korean missile tests, Layton said. 
 
 Covert raids by special forces in North Korea would be too risky and expose US troops to capture, experts said. Plus there are few signs of an elite or popular resistance ready to challenge the regime even if the US were able to decapitate it. 
 
 "Regime change is spy novel stuff," said Delury. ||||| WASHINGTON — The online ad reads like something only a metallurgist could love: an offer to sell 22 pounds of highly pure lithium 6 every month, set for delivery from the port of Dandong, China. 
 
 But it caught the attention of intelligence agencies around the world for a simple reason: Lithium 6 offers a fast way to turn an ordinary atom bomb into a hydrogen bomb, magnifying its destructive power by up to 1,000 times. The seller listed in the ad — who even provided his cellphone number — was identified in a recent United Nations report as the third secretary in the North Korean Embassy in Beijing. 
 
 When President Trump meets with President Xi Jinping in Florida this week, administration officials say, his top agenda item will be pressing China to sign on to the most powerful set of economic sanctions ever imposed on North Korea over its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. Mr. Trump has repeatedly vowed to stop the North’s nuclear efforts, telling The Financial Times in an interview published on Sunday: “If China is not going to solve North Korea, we will. That is all that I am telling you.” 
 
 But experts say the offer to sell excess lithium is evidence that North Korea has produced so much of the precious material that it is too late to prevent the nation from becoming an advanced nuclear power. ||||| A 38 North exclusive with analysis by Joseph S. Bermudez Jr. and Jack Liu. 
 
 While commercial satellite imagery of the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site from March 28 showed heightened activity, imagery from March 29 shows considerably less. At the North Portal, no vehicles or trailers are readily visible anymore, which suggests that whatever was underway over the past four days is either done or the nature of it has changed. If the activity was test related, it would suggest that preparations are complete and that a test could occur at any time. However, based on satellite imagery alone, great caution should be used in making this determination. North Korea clearly understands that the world is watching and is undoubtedly, at some level, attempting to manipulate reporting about developments at Punggye-ri. For instance, the kind of “signaling” we have seen over the past few days was not observed before either of the nuclear tests in 2016. Similar activity was observed before the 2013 test, but that was before Pyongyang fully understood what we were looking for. Furthermore, satellite imagery alone cannot provide a precise answer as to when a new test will be conducted. 
 
 Update on Activity 
 
 At the North Portal, water is likely still being pumped out of the tunnel to ensure the reliability of instrumentation and maintain the integrity of any stemming that has been installed. However, water drainage is difficult to distinguish from melting snow. Paths through the snow suggest that guards have patrolled the perimeter security fence around the North Portal. Additionally, there appears to be continued dumping of material on the tailings/spoil pile to the east. This could be related to a final cleanup of the tunnel, or may also indicate new excavation. 
 
 Figure 1. Equipment appears to have been removed from the North Portal area. 
 
 Figure 2. Additional material has been recently dumped on the North Portal’s spoil pile. 
 
 The Main Administrative Area shows the greatest change over the past couple days. Neither the personnel nor the vehicle seen on March 28 are now present, although the melted snow and disturbed earth are evidence they were there. What may be a small collection of crates or trailers is now in the main courtyard. 
 
 Figure 3. No personnel are seen in the courtyard; some possible crates or trailers remain. 
 
 With the exception of one small vehicle (approximately 3.5-meters-long) at the Command Center area, no significant activity is observed elsewhere at Punggye-ri. 
 
 Figure 4. One small vehicle is seen at the Command Center area.
– President Trump talked tough on North Korea in an interview with the Financial Times, his language setting the stage for Friday's meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The Voice of America reports that one line of thought is that Trump may be willing to offer Beijing incentives on a range of trade and security issues in exchange for help with the North. Meanwhile, a flurry of North Korean developments were making headlines: The highest-ranking North Korean defector in recent decades has a stark warning about Kim Jong Un: "Once he sees that there is any kind of sign of a tank or an imminent threat from America, then he would use his nuclear weapons," Thae Young Ho, who bolted in 2016, tells NBC News. A story in the New York Times suggests that it might be too late to prevent Pyongyang from joining the ranks of advanced nuclear powers. It points to the discovery of a classified ad, traced to North Korea, offering the sale of 22 pounds of lithium 6 per month; lithium 6 is needed to make a hydrogen bomb, and the ad suggests the North has excess supplies. A blogger at Forbes thinks the Times might be overstating the importance of that classified ad. It is far from proof of nuclear strength in the North, he writes. In his Financial Times interview, Trump said the US is prepared to act alone against the North if China is unwilling to help. What might that mean? CNN takes a look. In addition to sanctions and military action, there's the provocative idea of engagement—talking directly to Kim, which Trump as a candidate floated as an idea during the campaign. An analysis by the AP digs into the context of Trump's answers. Any solo solution would have to be "pretty clever," given the possibility of antagonizing not just the North and China, but Russia as well. There's lots of chatter about heightened activity at a nuclear site in the North, suggesting that another test is imminent, but the 38 North blog assesses satellite photos and throws some cold water on the theory. The world will be able to challenge North Korea in a different way next year: South Korea is hosting the Winter Olympics and says the North is welcome, reports Sky News. (The welcome was necessary because the two nations technically remain in a state of war.)