President Donald Trump and his top national security advisers briefed congressional lawmakers yesterday on what a senior aide called the "very grave threat" posed by North Korea, but they offered few details about the Administration's strategy to pressure Pyongyang.
Administration officials emphasised in a pair of private briefings - one open to all senators at the White House and one for House members on Capitol Hill - that they were developing a range of new economic, diplomatic and military measures in the wake of a series of provocations from North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un's regime.
Lawmakers said they came away convinced that the Trump Administration recognised the urgency of the mounting tensions on the Korean Peninsula, where Pyongyang conducted a failed missile test last week in the face of international condemnation.
But several members of Congress said the Administration remained vague and unclear about its efforts to confront Pyongyang beyond tougher talk from Trump.
"There was a definite degree of resolve that we've got a bad situation on our hands and they're ratcheting up the importance of this," said one Republican senator, who spoke on condition of anonymity to candidly discuss a private meeting.
