Oh, this was most definitely a ploy to make NK think we had them headed their way for their Sun Day celebration. It cowed them to some degree and this shows that both Russia and China are in with us. Why? Because both of them have eyes in space that would have told them where our carriers were headed and they obviously didn't share this with NK. This was well played.
There is one mostly peaceful option, China uses its leverage to convince someone, or a lot of someones in the upper echelon that they are all going to die if they don't get rid of the nutcase and then lead a more normal existence as a nation. And then they kill him, hopefully brutally… but that's the chaotic in me, not the good! .