In response to the US vice president, Russia's foreign minister Sergey Lavrov said that Mike Pence’s statement on the US running out of “strategic patience”
towards Pyongyang does not contribute to resolving the crisis. The top Russian diplomat also voiced hope there will be no repeat of the US strike on Syria in North Korea.
After Saturday came and went without any provocation out of North Korea on its national holiday, many asked if Kim Jong-Un had finally learned his lesson.
For all the expectations of a North Korean nuke test, the country's "Day of the sun" celebrations ended up being a relatively subdued affair, with Pyongyang marking the 105th anniversary of its founding leader Kim Il-sung with a military parade in Pyongyang, where it for the first time publicly showcased its submarine-launched ballistic missiles as well as what appears to be a new type of ICBM, even as a U.S. aircraft carrier group steamed towards the region.
While preparations for North Korea's celebration of the "Day of the Sun" have already started early on Saturday morning local time, appropriately enough under a light rain...
Rain in Pyongyang as North Koreans prepare for 'Day of the Sun' https://t.co/Jr1eQr3H3A pic.twitter.com/qxQJ64j3hi
— Reuters U.S. News (@ReutersUS) April 14, 2017
Satellite imagery of North Korea's Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site taken on March 28, and published by 38 North, shows a contingent of 70-100 people standing in formation in an administrative area. Such a gathering suggests a nuclear test may be imminent: as 38 North notes, it had not observed such a formation at the test venue seen since Jan. 4, 2013, shortly prior a nuclear test on Feb. 12 of that year.