One retired South Korean military officer pointed out that it would be impossible for the United States to stage a military attack on North Korea without consulting the South Korean government as Seoul's cooperation would be vital in securing control of roads and airports that would be used in any evacuation of USA nationals.
China's foreign ministry on Wednesday reiterated Beijing's position of calming the situation via a "dual suspension" of North Korea's nuclear tests and the United States' joint military drills with South Korea.
The US last week sent a naval strike group to the region in a show of force against Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme. "Very powerful", Trump told the Fox Business Network in an interview due to air today.
China's calls for calm come as tensions have risen with the dispatch of a USA aircraft carrier to the area and the deployment of thousands of US and South Korean troops, tanks and other weaponry for their biggest-ever joint military exercises.
In a statement Tuesday, North Korea's Foreign Ministry said the aircraft carrier deployment "goes to prove that the US reckless moves for invading. have reached a serious phase".
"If the US dares opt for a military action, crying out for "pre-emptive attack". the DPRK is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the U.S".
North Korea's official Rodong Sinmun newspaper went even further, threatening that the country had the ability to bomb the United States mainland.
South Korean officials said on Thursday there were no new signs to indicate a North Korean nuclear test was more likely, although they also said the North has maintained a state of readiness to conduct such a test at any time.
The Korean Peninsula has not been so close to a "military clash" since North Korea conducted its first nuclear test in 2006, China's influential state-run tabloid the Global Times said in an editorial.
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Mr Trump said on Twitter his call with Xi was a "very good" discussion of the "menace of North Korea".
The ban followed strict, new sanctions imposed in November by the United Nations on North Korean coal exports, which China helped to draft and pass.
North Korean officials warned early Tuesday that they were prepared to go to "war" with the U.S., should they keep sending ships towards the Korean peninsula.
Another step could be a ban on North Korean seafood exports, Pyongyang's fourth-largest export to China, its main trading partner, and expanded efforts to seize assets of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his family. That doesn't seem to have deterred Donald Trump, who on Tuesday tweeted that if the regime is "looking for trouble," that the US was going to solve the problem, without China's help if necessary. "As soon as North Korea complies with China's declared advice and suspends nuclear activities".
"I think he has been very clear that he will not tolerate some of those actions by North Korea".
Speculation over an imminent nuclear test is brewing as the North marks anniversaries including the 105th birthday of its late founder on Saturday-sometimes celebrated with a demonstration of military might.
"The first thing I brought up was North Korea".
China says President Xi Jinping has stressed the need for an end to North Korea's nuclear weapons program in a phone discussion with Donald Trump that followed tweets from the US president urging China to play a more active role. "You've got to convince them it's worth it".
"We have no comment at this time but we will be watching closely", a defense official said to VOA. "China isn't really as influential as all that", he said.
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