In the wake of North Korea's recent spate of anti-American rhetoric, the U.S. Navy has moved a guided-missile destroyer in the Pacific nearer to the nation, according to a report from NBC World News.
Defense officials say that the destroyer, the USS McCain, is capable of intercepting and eliminating a launched missile, although they add that the country has given no concrete indication it intends to do so:
"I would note that despite the harsh rhetoric we are hearing from Pyongyang, we are not seeing changes to the North Korean military posture, such as large-scale mobilizations and positioning of forces," a defense official told NBC.
South Korea's new president, Park Geun-hye, moved to assure its neighbor that any provocation would initiate a quick response:
"If there is any provocation against South Korea and its people, there should be a strong response in initial combat without any political considerations," Reuters reported from a meeting of high-level officials Monday.
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Political News
June 19, 2026 16:46 ET Major central banks continued to dominate the economic news flow this week too, led by the Federal Reserve, as they announced their latest policy decisions. The Federal Reserve policy session was in focus as it was the first to be led by the new chief Kevin Warsh. In Europe, central banks of the U.K. and Switzerland announced their rate decisions. In Asia, the Bank of Japan drew attention for its policy moves, while data out of China threw some light on the state of the economy.