North Korea said Sunday that its military could sink a U.S. aircraft carrier that President Trump is sending to the region “with a single strike,” according to Reuters.

“Our revolutionary forces are combat-ready to sink a U.S. nuclear powered aircraft carrier with a single strike,” North Korea's ruling Workers’ Party newspaper said in a commentary, the news service reported.

The Rodong Sinmun commentary reportedly compared the USS Carl Vinson to a “gross animal.”

The USS Carl Vinson and Japanese navy ships are currently conducting exercises in the Philippine Sea.

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Vice President Pence said on Saturday the aircraft carrier would arrive in the waters off the Korean Peninsula "within days,” Reuters noted.

The developments come amid heightened tensions in the region as the reclusive country conducts missile and nuclear tests and threatens its neighbors.

South Korea went on heightened alert Friday, and officials are expected to meet with representatives from the U.S. and Japan this week.

They will "discuss plans to rein in North Korea's additional high-strength provocations, to maximize pressure on the North, and to ensure China's constructive role in resolving the North Korea nuclear issue," the foreign ministry in Seoul said.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency also reported Sunday that a third U.S. citizen has been detained in North Korea.

The U.S. citizen, identified only by his surname, Kim, was arrested last week at Pyongyang International Airport as he was trying to leave the country.