Residents thronged the wide boulevards of North Korea's capital Pyongyang on Wednesday, some practicing for a parade to be held during the weekend, with no visible signs of the tensions engulfing the region over the isolated state's weapons programs.

A U.S. aircraft carrier group is headed to Korean waters amid concerns that Pyongyang may conduct a nuclear or long-rage missile test and threats from U.S. President Donald Trump of unilateral action "to solve the problem."

It was a sunny, spring morning in Pyongyang and many people were on the streets around the city's biggest sights, the Arch of Triumph and Kim Il Sung Square. Some of them spoke to journalists, who were escorted by North Korean officials.