What you need to know about rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula
All 100 U.S. senators will gather Wednesday for a White House briefing on the volatility in North Korea.
The meeting -- announced last week and requested by Senate leadership - comes amid the U.S. Navy's bilateral military exercises with South Korea and Japan, and North Korea's live-fire drills to celebrate the anniversary of its military's founding.
Here's what you need to know about the situation:
U.S. Navy exercises
The destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyers is conducting bilateral maritime exercises with a South Korean destroyer in waters west of the Korean Peninsula Tuesday and Wednesday, while the destroyer USS Fitzgerald is partnering with a Japanese destroyer in waters west of Japan, according to the U.S. 7th Fleet.
"Both exercises demonstrate a shared commitment to security and stability in Northeast Asia as well as the U.S. Navy's inherent flexibility to combine with allied naval forces in response to a broad range of situations," the 7th Fleet said in a news release.
The Meyers is part of the USS Carl Vinson carrier strike group, which will arrive off the Korean Peninsula at the end of the month.
Also arriving in the area is the USS Michigan, one of the Navy's Ohio-class nuclear-powered guided missile submarines.
The Michigan arrived in the South Korean port of Busan today. Its deployment is not part of the Vinson strike group, but its presence in the area is intended to send a message to North Korea, a U.S. Defense Department official told ABC News.
North Korean live-fire drills
The latest bilateral maritime exercises come as North Korea conducted large-scale, live-fire drills today numbering 300 to 400 pieces of artillery near the eastern port city of Wonsan, South Korea's military said.
The drill marked the 85th anniversary of the founding of North Korea's military in which people dance at an outdoor party in the capital city of Pyongyang. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un likely participated in the event, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.
The United States has speculated that North Korea could carry out another nuclear or missile test timed to today's celebration.
Earlier this month, North Korea conducted its fifth missile test this year. Though the missile exploded seconds after launch, the test occurred hours after the country rolled out intercontinental ballistic missiles and other military hardware at a huge parade to celebrate the birthday of the country's late founder, Kim Il Sung, grandfather of current leader Kim Jong Un.
Senators convene at White House for North Korea briefing
Wednesday's briefing on the situation in North Korea will be attended by every U.S. senator. While it's not uncommon for all 100 Senators to be briefed at the same time, the typical venue is the Senate floor, not the White House.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, Secretary of Defense James Mattis, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Joseph Dunford and Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats are expected to conduct the briefing.
The meeting, in addition with an increased U.S. military presence in the Asia Pacific, is just part of an all-hands-on-deck approach to how the Trump administration will tackle North Korea's nuclear ambitions.
During a working lunch Wednesday with the ambassadors to the countries of the United Nations Security Council, Trump called North Korea "a real threat to the world."
"North Korea is a big world problem," Trump said, adding, "People have put blinders on for decades."
He encouraged the U.N. Security Council to act on North Korea, saying the organization has "tremendous potential."
As Tuesday's military exercises with South Korea and Japan show, the United States is remaining in lock-step with its allies in the region.
The U.S. special representative for North Korea policy, Joseph Yun, today agreed with his South Korean and Japanese counterparts in Tokyo that the three nations would "coordinate all actions" on North Korea.
"We agree among the three of us that we will coordinate all actions -- diplomatic, military, economic -- regarding North Korea," Yun told reporters. "We'll continue to work very closely among the three of us together as well as with our international partners."
They also agreed that China plays a key roles in pressuring North Korea to abandon its nuclear and missile programs, something President Trump and his administration have continuously emphasized.
China is very much the economic lifeline to North Korea so, while nothing is easy, if they want to solve the North Korean problem, they will
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 21, 2017I have great confidence that China will properly deal with North Korea. If they are unable to do so, the U.S., with its allies, will! U.S.A.
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 13, 2017"We believe China -- we've talked about this before -- has unique leverage when it comes to North Korea, and frankly China's influence on North Korea is outsized in the sense of if they fully implement, and we've seen them take additional steps in that regard, the sanctions, then they can apply the kind of pressure that will make Pyongyang take notice," State Department acting spokesman Mark Toner said in Monday's press briefing.
"This has been front and center of our discussions with the Chinese government," Toner added. "We believe we have made headway in convincing them of the urgency of this situation, and that they are going to take steps to address it."
ABC News' Luis Martinez, Chad Murray and Conor Finnegan contributed to this report.
