US President Donald Trump has held separate telephone talks with Chinese and Japanese leaders over the tense situation on the Korean peninsula.
The former Marine Corps General said: "Clearly there are countries on the planet that have a lot of nuclear weapons that would overwhelm any defence that we would deploy - Russia, as an example".
Recent U.S. commercial satellite images indicate increased activity around North Korea's nuclear test site, and third-generation dictator Kim Jong Un has said the country's preparation for an ICBM launch is in its "final stage".
Pence visited the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea and addressed US servicemen on the USS Ronald Reagan in Japan, where he warned North Korea not to test the resolve of the USA military, promising it would have an "overwhelming and effective" response to any use of conventional or nuclear weapons.
"China is very much the economic lifeline to North Korea", President Trump said in a tweet Friday, "so, while nothing is easy, if they want to solve the North Korean problem, they will".
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Trump in their conversation agreed to urge North Korea to refrain from provocative actions. "Now maybe that'll work out or maybe it won't", Trump said, adding that he had a "great relationship" with the Chinese president.
China is North Korea's largest trading partner and Trump has repeatedly pressed China to do more to rein in the reclusive state.
NYC Mayor Hits Back After Trump Admin. Calls Policies 'Soft on Crime'
The letter threatened to cut off the cities' law enforcement grants over their sanctuary city status. De Blasio demanded that Trump and Sessions either renounce the statement or stand behind it.
North Korea celebrates the 85th anniversary of the foundation of its Korean People's Army on Tuesday, and has marked similar events in the past with nuclear tests or missile launches.
White House officials earlier on Sunday had confirmed to VOA News the calls to Abe and Trump would be made but they released no immediate details. Military tensions could be raised another notch, as the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson continues to head north towards the Korean Peninsula. Last week, South Korea's acting president Hwang Kyo-ahn ordered top government and military officials in Seoul to remain vigilant in the face of possible contingencies.
The comments came ahead of a failed missile test coinciding with the 105th anniversary of the birth of North Korea's founder, Kim Il-Sung.
The carrier group was sent by Trump for exercises in waters off the Korean peninsula as a warning, amid growing fears North Korea could conduct another nuclear test soon in defiance of United Nations sanctions.
Meanwhile a third US citizen was detained Friday by North Korean authorities as he was about to leave the country.
"This is only going to inflame the situation and make it more hard for us to resolve the overarching issue of getting North Korea to stop developing a nuclear weapon", Locke said.
It conducted a failed missile test a day after the Day of the Sun, the country's most important holiday, earlier this month, but not a nuclear test, which some predicted would happen.
Comments