US citizen detained in North Korea, Pyongyang threatens to sink aircraft carrier

Tensions between the US and North Korea increased at the weekend after an American professor was arrested in Pyongyang, while the isolated regime threatened to sink a US aircraft carrier following exercises in the western Pacific.

Relations between the two states have plummeted further in recent weeks as the DPRK steps up its missile programme and the US strengthens its alliance with South Korea through military exercises close to its neighbour.

Kim Sang-duk, a Korean-American lecturer who taught at the Pyongyang University of Science for several weeks prior to his arrest, was detained on Saturday with no official explanation being given for the decision. Kim had been involved in aid programmes and relief activities in North Korea.

Relations between the two states have plummeted further in recent weeks

A statement from the Pyongyang university said that the arrest was not connected in any way to Kim’s work at the college.

Meanwhile, state media in North Korea has said that the country’s military forces are “combat-ready” to respond to the placement of the US ship along with two Japanese navy ships in waters close to the state.

"Our revolutionary forces are combat-ready to sink a US nuclear-powered aircraft carrier with a single strike," the Rodong Sinmun newspaper said on Sunday. It referred to the US aircraft carrier as a "gross animal".

President Donald Trump ordered the placement of the ship just off the Korean peninsula in response to the increased missile testing being carried out by Kim Jong-un's regime in recent weeks.