Threat of war with North Korea rising

White House national security adviser H.R. McMaster said yesterday at the Reagan Presidential Library in California that North Korea is "the greatest immediate threat to the United States":

• "I think it's increasing every day, which means that we are in a race, really. We are in a race to be able to solve this problem." (CNN)
• "The U.S. agency tasked with protecting the country from missile attacks is scouting the West Coast for places to deploy new anti-missile defenses, two Congressmen said." (Reuters)
• "North Korea said the U.S. is 'begging' for a nuclear war by planning the 'largest-ever' joint aerial drill with South Korea just after concluding an exercise with nuclear-powered aircraft carriers." (Bloomberg)