North Korea crisis: Trump warns US will take 'devastating military option' to end Kim
DONALD Trump has warned the United States is prepared to take "military action" to stop North Korea's threats.
The US President said the move will be "devastating" for Pyongyang.
Asked whether he would consider sending the military into North Korea, Mr Trump, said: “We are totally prepared for the second option, not preferred, but it will be devastating, I can tell you that - that’s called the military option.
“If we have to take it we will.
“He’s acting very badly. He’s saying things he should never ever say but it’s a reply.
The things he’s said over the past year and to past administrations - North Korea is a situation which should have been handled 25-years ago, ten, five-years-ago.
“Many administrations have left me with this mess but I’ll fix the mess.”
His threat came amid a tranche of bellicose statements by Mr Trump and despot leader Kim Jong-un.
Kim Jong-unGetty
Donald Trump said the US will take military action
Yesterday North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho accused Mr Trump of declaring war on the North and threatened to shoot down US warplanes flying near the peninsula.
Last weekend American bombers flew the closest they ever have to the country.
Mr Ri was reacting to the President's comments Kim and Ri "would be around much longer" if they carried out their threats toward the US.
North Korea's sixth and most powerful nuclear missile test was carried out on September 3.
We are totally prepared for the second option but it will be devastating, I can tell you that - that’s called the military option
Donald Trump
Earlier today the US sanctioned 26 Norh Korean nationals and nine banks, including some with ties to China.
In a list on the US Treasury Department Office of Foreign Assets Control Sanctions website, they revealed some of the individuals are in North Korea and some are North Korean nationals in China, Russia, Libya and Dubai.
The US' top military officer today said the US regards North Korea as the world's greatest threat but despite an escalation in tensions over its ballistic missile and nuclear programme, Pyongyang has not changed its military posture.
TrumpGetty
Mr Trump was holding a press conference with Spanish PM Mariano Rajoy when he spoke about N Korea
The assessment by Marine Corps General Joseph Dunford, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, about Pyongyang's military stance was in contrast to a South Korean lawmaker who said Pyongyang had boosted defenses on its east coast.
Statements by Mr Trump and Kim in recent weeks have created fears a miscalculation could lead to action with untold ramifications, particularly since Pyongyang conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test on September 3.
Mr Dunford told a Senate Armed Services Committee: "While the political space is clearly very charged right now, we haven't seen a change in the posture of North Korean forces, and we watch that very closely."
We will deter North Korea's most dangerous threats’ – US says pressure is high
NORTH Korea is under pressure to stop its nuclear and missile testing as the world pushes even closer to World War 3.
By CHLOE KERR
PUBLISHED: 14:12, Tue, Sep 26, 2017 | UPDATED: 14:49, Tue, Sep 26, 2017
The world is putting more and more pressure on North Korea
US Defence Secretary Mattis, who is on a two-day visit to India to strengthen military ties, said a United Nations resolution had increased pressure on the hermit nation.
He also said diplomatic efforts to tackle the crisis are continuing, but added the US would be able to tackle any attacks from Kim Jong-un.
Mr Mattis said: “We continue to maintain the diplomatically led efforts in the United Nations.
“You have seen unanimous UN security council resolutions passed that have increased the pressure on the North and at the same time we maintain the capability to deter North Korea’s most dangerous threats.”
Earlier today Russia warned of “catastrophic consequences” if a military conflict broke out on the Korean peninsula.
Russia hit out at America after US bomber jets were dispatched to South Korea, and slammed the approach as a “dead end”.
China echoed Russia's concerns, and said war on the peninsula would have "no winners".
Donald TrumpGETTY
Tensions have been escalating between North Korea and the US
Trump claimed that our leadership wouldn't be around much longer and declared a war on our country
Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho responded by saying
The concerns come after President Trump was accused of declaring war on the secretive kingdom after he tweeted that North Korea “won’t be around much longer”.
North Korea's Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho responded by saying: "Last weekend Trump claimed that our leadership wouldn't be around much longer and declared a war on our country.
"Since the United States declared war on our country, we will have every right to make all self-defensive counter measures, including the right to shoot down the United States strategic bombers at any time even when they are not yet inside the aerospace border of our country”.
north koreaGETTY
North Korea have been carrying out missile tests
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said yesterday that the US has not declared war on North Korea, adding: "Frankly, the suggestion of that is absurd."
She also said that it was “never appropriate” to shoot down another country’s aircraft in international waters.
Last week, in his first speech to the UN General Assembly, Mr Trump vowed to "totally destroy" North Korea if it continued to threaten the US and its allies.
North Korea accused Trump of declaring warGETTY
North Korea accused Trump of declaring war
This follows a war of words between Washington and Pyongyang where Donald Trump described Mr Kim and “rocket man”, and he in turn called The Donald a "mentally deranged person full of megalomania”.
Tensions between the two nations have been increasing over the last number of weeks, and intensified when Pyongyang conducted its sixth and largest nuclear test on 3 September. It has also threatened to test a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific.
Earlier this month, the UN Security Council unanimously adopted its ninth round of sanctions on Pyongyang in response to the nuclear test.
