‘Madman Theory’ of foreign policy working – so far

A man watches a TV news program showing a file footage of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un with letters reading: “The North fired a missile” at the Seoul Train Station in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Feb. 12, 2017. At the heart of Donald Trump’s foreign policy team lies a glaring contradiction.

AP Sources: Justice warned White House about Flynn contacts

Joseph Dunford, left, and National Security Adviser Michael Flynn as he arrives via Air Force One at MacDill Air Forc… . Kellyanne Conway, left, and Stephen Miller, both senior advisers to President Donald Trump, walk to a news conference with President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Feb. 10, 2017, at the White House in Washin… .

Flynn apologizes to Pence over Russia controversy

Joseph Dunford, left, and National Security Adviser Michael Flynn as he arrives via Air Force One at MacDill Air Forc… . Kellyanne Conway, left, and Stephen Miller, both senior advisers to President Donald Trump, walk to a news conference with President Donald Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Feb. 10, 2017, at the White House in Washin… .

US aircraft carrier looks to join Seoul-Washington military drill

The USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier made a port call in Guam on Friday in what could be a preparation to take part in an annual joint military drill between South Korea and the United States slated for March, a military source said. A possible mobilization of the nuclear-powered carrier for the upcoming Key Resolve exercise is aimed at deterring North Korea’s growing nuclear and missile threats, it added.

Rex Tillerson: Japan, South Korea already share in U.S. military burden

A leaked document of responses from U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to questions from U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin , D-Md., during Tillerson’s confirmation hearing in January indicate he may be taking a more moderate approach to challenges in Asia. The 51-page document that a U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee spokesman verified as authentic to The Japan Times include a more restrained strategy to issues like military burden sharing with Asian allies and Chinese buildup in the South China Sea.

10 Things to Know for Today

In this Jan. 21, 2017, file photo, protesters stage a candlelight vigil calling for impeached President Park Geun-hye to step down in Seoul, South Korea. The Pyeongchang Olympics have been drawn into the country’s biggest political scandal in decades.

Mattis warns NKorea against any attack on US or its allies

In an explicit warning to North Korea, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis on Friday said any use of nuclear weapons by the North on the United States or its allies would be met with what he called an “effective and overwhelming” response. U.S. defense secretaries have long offered assurances to South Korea and Japan that its nuclear “umbrella” will protect them, but Mattis’s statement was perhaps more pointed than most.