North Korean minister: Trump building "vicious cycle" of tensions

The trove "demonstrates the continuing critical importance of high-end, foreign-sourced components" in building the missiles North Korea uses to threaten its neighbors, a United Nations expert team concluded in a report released last month. Another nuclear test would invite tougher measures from Beijing, Gui said.

Russian Federation has urged all sides involved in the crisis in the Korean Peninsula to show "restraint", warning of any "provocative steps" amid reports of potential military confrontation between North Korea and the United States.

China's Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Affairs Wu Dawe today went to Pyongyang after visiting South Korea and Japan for talks with the North Korean leadership.

Seoul and Tokyo are at risk of being attacked by the North Korean regime should the US launch a pre-emptive strike.

In the same article, Pyongyang also threatened to launch "nuclear thunderbolts" at the US, should Washington show any sign of a preemptive strike against the North.

Senior US intelligence officials said the US military was ready to attack North Korea with conventional weapons if the country reached for a nuclear trigger.

USA intelligence officials said that the United States has stationed two destroyers capable of attacking the region with Tomahawk cruise missiles, with one located just 300 miles from the nuclear test site.

Han told Tracy that North Korea does not want a war, and insisted his government was only responding to USA threats.

The next day, Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke with Trump on the phone, calling for calm as a US Navy aircraft carrier-led strike group headed to the region in an unmistakable gesture.

Wang said that whichever side provoked a conflict "must assume the historic responsibility and pay the corresponding price".

Guo says although the tension on the Korean Peninsula is high, it's not high to the point of having an imminent war.

"Right now we all must stop at the edge of the abyss and not take this fateful step", he said.

Vice Minister Han Song Ryol told The Associated Press that Trump's tweets were making trouble in the region.

Trump has also said the United States is prepared to tackle the crisis without China, if necessary.

"Trump is always making provocations with his aggressive words".

While Trump has put North Korea on notice that he will not tolerate any more provocation, US officials have said his administration is focusing its strategy on tougher economic sanctions. Reportedly, Pyongyang intends to conduct another nuclear test during the weekend of April 15-16. Most analysts believe North Korea is still at least several years away from that capacity, but Pyongyang already has weapons that pose a serious threat to USA allies South Korea and Japan, and US troops based in those countries.