China warns the U.S. that tension over North Korea must be STOPPED before it crosses a barrier of '"irreversible and unmanageable' damage".
President Trump said North Korean leader Kim Jong-un was "doing the wrong thing", when asked if he though Mr Kim was mentally fit, he replied: "I don't know".
Concern has grown since the U.S. Navy fired 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian airfield last week in response to a deadly gas attack, raising questions about U.S. President Donald Trump's plans for North Korea, which has conducted missile and nuclear tests in defiance of United Nations and unilateral sanctions.
However the Americans have announced their "strategic patience" is now at an end.
The US Vice President, Mike Pence, is due to fly to South Korea on Sunday, in such a show of support for its regional ally.
China, North Korea's sole major ally and neighbor which nevertheless opposes its weapons program, has called for talks leading to the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned that conflict "could break out at any moment" and said if war occurred there could be no victor.
In a statement on official news agency KCNA, the North's Korean People's Army said Trump had "entered the path of open threat and blackmail against the DPRK".
"So that's why. It's not the DPRK but the U.S. and Trump that makes trouble".
Li said Beijing was also hoping to send a message across to Pyongyang, adding "it is not possible for North Korea to simply ignore China's position".
Expectations are high that the North may put its newest missiles on display during Saturday's massive military parade that marks the "Day of the Sun", the 105th anniversary of the birth of state founder Kim Il-sung.
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The U.S.is prepared to launch a preemptive strike with conventional weapons against North Korea should officials become convinced that North Korea is about to follow through with a nuclear weapons test, multiple senior U.S. intelligence officials told NBC News. United States intelligence officials do not believe North Korea possesses a long-range nuclear weapon capable of reaching American soil, but said they are prepared to strike if the country begins testing such a weapon.
The North Korean military responded on Friday by saying it would "mercilessly foil" any U.S. provocation.
Han said Trump's tweets have also added fuel to the flames.
He has said if China does not reign their ally's neighbour in he will involve America and has recently sent a US aircraft carrier group to the region.
Military experts generally agree a shooting war with North Korea would likely be far more costly than something along the lines of the recent targeted strike Trump ordered against a Syrian air base believed to be linked to a chemical weapons attack by the regime of Bashir Assad.
White House foreign policy aides who requested anonymity to discuss the vice president's travel say North Korea has telegraphed the possibility of a test to coincide with the occasion.
China is concerned any conflict could lead to a huge refugee problem on its border with North Korea. "If the US comes up with a risky military option, then the first card is in our hands".
Sources in North Korea told Daily NK the Kim Jong Un regime has mobilized citizens, soldiers and students to prepare for the birthday celebration.
A White House foreign policy advisor said Friday that the United States was assessing military options, and added that another provocative test was a question of "when" rather than "if".
Kang Gil-won, a 26-year-old graduate living in Seoul, said his biggest concern was not North Korea, but finding work in a tough job market.
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