Pence plans to spend Easter with USA and Korean troops before meeting to "consult with the Republic of Korea on North Korea's efforts to advance its ballistic missile and its nuclear program", a White House foreign policy adviser said to reporters.
But a senior Trump administration official described as "flat wrong" an NBC News report citing senior USA intelligence officials as saying the United States is prepared to launch a pre-emptive conventional weapons strike should officials be convinced North Korea was about to follow through with a nuclear weapons test.
North Korea denounced the United States on Friday for bringing "huge nuclear strategic assets" to the Korean peninsula as a US aircraft carrier group headed for the region amid concerns the North may conduct a sixth nuclear weapon test.
The goal for North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear tipped warhead to the continental U.S.
Trump tweeted Wednesday: "Had a very good call last night with the President of China concerning the menace of North Korea".
The moves are seen as an implicit warning to North Korea that Washington is not afraid to use force.
China's calls for calm come as tensions have risen with the dispatch of a United States aircraft carrier off the Korean Peninsula and the deployment of thousands of USA and South Korean troops, tanks and other weaponry for their biggest-ever joint military exercises, reports the Associated Press.
In an exclusive interview with the AP in Pyongyang on Friday, Vice Minister Han Song Ryol also blamed President Donald Trump for raising tensions, saying that his "aggressive" tweets were "making trouble". The North was deemed to have completed preparations for another underground detonation, possibly to coincide with the birthday of late national founder Kim Il-sung on Saturday, while a United States air carrier strike group is en route to South Korea after altering its initial itinerary from Singapore to Australia.
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"When it comes to the issue of the Korean Peninsula, violence is not an option", he said. "Whatever comes from USA politicians, if their words are created to overthrow the DPRK system and government, we will categorically reject them". "The problem will be taken care of".
But Beijing has long opposed dramatic action against Pyongyang, fearing the regime's collapse would send a flood of refugees across its borders and leave the United States military on its doorstep.
Another U.S. official also dismissed the report, calling it "speculative at best".
Pence's trip to South Korea was a sign of the US commitment to its ally in the face of rising tension, aides said.
Media in Japan said the government confirmed it would take all precautions regarding possible fresh North Korean provocations. Despite reports that Washington is considering military action if the North goes ahead with another nuclear test, Han did not rule out the possibility of a test in the near future.
Abe cited Syria, where dozens of people died recently in an alleged sarin nerve gas attack, as an example that Japan should take seriously, stressing the need to strengthen its deterrence against the North. North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un's half-brother Kim Jong-nam was allegedly killed with a different chemical weapon, VX, at the Kuala Lumpur airport in February. Aides to Pence said that this trip is a sign of the "U.S. commitment to its ally in the face of rising tensions over North Korea's nuclear program".
Outwardly, there are few signs of concern in North Korea despite the political back and forth.
NBC News early Friday reported the United States is ready for a strike, having positioned two destroyers capable of shooting Tomahawk cruise missiles, one just 480 kilometers from the North's nuclear test site, as well as bombers in Guam, citing multiple senior intelligence officials.
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