North Korea vows to continue testing missiles despite USA warning

He said his country's "era of strategic patience" with North Korea was over.

North Korea's deputy representative to the United Nations, Kim In Ryong, accused the United States of creating "a situation where nuclear war could break out an any time" and said Pyongyang's next nuclear test would take place "at a time and at a place where our headquarters deems necessary".

Kim In Ryong told a news conference that "if the USA dares opt for a military action", North Korea "is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the US". As the brown bomber jacket-clad vice president was briefed near the military demarcation line, two North Korean soldiers watched from a short distance away, one taking multiple photographs of the American visitor.

A slew of recent missile launches and North Korea's expected test of a sixth nuclear device have heightened concerns that the country is drawing closer to being capable of striking the USA with a nuclear weapon - something sure to bring the crisis to a head.

North Korea appears unthreatened by the warning of the United States regarding its nuclear weapons program. He called North Korea the most urgent and unsafe threat to the peace and security of the Asia-Pacific region. "President Trump has made it clear that the patience of the United States and our allies in this region has run out and we want to see change".

But the United States is also working with China, North Korea's main ally, to pressure the regime to stop nuclear and missile tests.

The vice president said the US would honor its alliance with Pacific Rim nations and protect freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, the sea lanes vital to global shipping where China has been staking claim to disputed territory. -South Korean military exercises being staged now are the largest-ever "aggressive war drill". He said his country "is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the U.S". Pence pointed out the recent actions of the U.S.in Syria and Afghanistan demonstrated the power of the USA military and Trump's resolve. China's relations with South Korea, meanwhile, have plummeted over Beijing's vociferous objections to the deployment of a sophisticated anti-missile shield.

He said the USA was "disturbing global peace and stability and insisting on the gangster-like logic that its invasion of a sovereign state is decisive and just and proportionate and contributes to defending the worldwide order".

Graham said he recommended Trump tell China that if Beijing doesn't stop Pyongyang from building a missile capable of striking America, the U.S. For it is simply not true to say that wasting decades in fruitless diplomatic efforts is cost-free, since the time merely allowed Pyongyang to ideal its nuclear weapons.

U.S. Vice President Mike Pence visits at the border village of. -South Korean installation, which is just outside the 2.5-mile wide (4 kilometers) DMZ.

While it has less reason to fear a North Korean nuclear weapon, China intensely dislikes instability in its neighbourhood and worries about South Korea and Japan responding by going nuclear themselves. "But dialogue for the sake of having dialogue is meaningless".

"The leader of North Korea again recklessly tried to provoke something by launching a missile", he said. While the North did not conduct a nuclear test, the specter of a potential test and an escalated US response has trailed Pence as he undertakes his Asian tour.

On Sunday, Lt Gen HR McMaster, the U.S. top security adviser, said his country was working on a "range of options" with China, the first confirmation the two countries were co-operating to find a solution to the North Korean issue.

The paper, obtained by The Associated Press, says the North's latest actions "make clear that further global pressure is required for the DPRK to change its behavior if there is to be any hope for meaningful denuclearization talks to resume".