Pence slams ‘menacing’ North Korea parade while promoting Trump’s planned military spectacle

Attending the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Vice President Mike Pence had harsh words for North Korea's show of military strength prior to the opening ceremonies, slamming the military parade less than 24 hours after heaping praise on President Donald Trump's desire to have his own military showcase.

According to ABC News, early Friday morning Pence slammed North Korea's parade as "an ongoing provocation."

"Make no mistake about it, what we witnessed in Pyongyang, and we witnessed again yesterday, on the eve of the Olympics -- what [South Korean] President Moon [Jae-in] said last night, he hopes will be an Olympics of peace -- was once again an effort on the part of the regime in Pyongyang to display their ballistic missiles, to display a military that continues to make menacing threats across the region and across the wider world," Pence told reporters.

"I think in the United States of America, just as in France -- where the president was impressed on Bastille Day -- we can celebrate our troops, not in any way ever be associated with the provocations of the North," he added.

Less than 24 hours earlier, Pence explained that his was a big fan of Trump's proposed -- but highly criticized -- parade, telling reporters traveling with him to the Olympics, ""I think any opportunity we have to celebrate the men and women of the armed forces of the United States is a great day. I heartily support the president's call to celebrate our military."

You can read the whole report here.