In an interview with the Associated Press on Thursday, North Korea's vice-foreign minister said the country "certainly will not keep our arms crossed" if the USA launches a preemptive strike.
But a USA military official, who requested anonymity to discuss planning, said the US doesn't intend to use military force against North Korea in response to either a nuclear test or a missile launch.
Wang last month urged the DPRK to suspend its nuclear weapon and missile tests in exchange for South Korea and the USA putting their war games on hold, reviving a proposal first raised by Pyongyang.
On Thursday, Mr Trump said Pyongyang was a problem that "will be taken care of", and that he believed Chinese President Xi Jinping would "work very hard" to help resolve the issue, reported Reuters.
The North Korean government warned that it is ready to go to war if the US attacks, and said that it is now considering a first strike itself.
"We will go to war if they choose", he said.
He added that Pyongyang possesses "a powerful nuclear deterrent" and the North "certainly will not keep our arms crossed in the face of a USA pre-emptive strike".
Many North Korea watchers believe North Korea could have a viable nuclear warhead and a ballistic missile capable of hitting the U.S. mainland on Trump's watch as president - within the next few years.
The Institute for Science and International Security cited a worrying increase in North Korea's nuclear program, but said the arsenal may only have been as large as 13 atomic weapons at the end of 2016. "At a time and at a place where the headquarters deems necessary, it will take place".
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a news conference on Friday that the government was always collecting and analyzing information about North Korea's moves but refrained from commenting on details.
Citing the recent missile strike Trump ordered against Syria - which was widely interpreted as a warning to Pyongyang - the KPA denounced the U.S. president for embarking on a path of "open threat and blackmail" against the North. However, taking pre-emptive military action in advance of another test would be a massive and unexpected escalation that could place South Korea, a US ally, at risk of retaliation from the North. Seoul, a city of 14 million people, is less than 30 miles from parts of the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas.
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Tension is rising amid concerns the North may conduct a sixth nuclear weapons test in defiance of USA sanctions and warnings from the US.
On Twitter, Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani approved of Thursday's bombing, saying it was "designed to support the efforts of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) and U.S. forces. conducting clearance operations in the region".
Another nuclear test would invite tougher measures from Beijing, Guo said.
Kim Jong Un's government has pledged "a big and important event" for Saturday, the 105th anniversary birthday of the country's founder Kim Il-sung, the current president's grandfather.
He also said the country would continue developing its nuclear program and conduct its next nuclear test whenever its leaders saw fit.
Kim did not address the rally, but his close aide Choe Ryong Hae gave a defiant speech saying that Pyongyang would react in kind to any provocation - nuclear or otherwise.
Wang says: Once a war really happens, the result will be nothing but multiple-loss. Some observers have said the strike was also meant to send a signal to North Korea. If North Korea tests a nuclear weapon or new long-range missile, new sanctions will be imposed on the state.
North Korea's vice foreign minister says the situation on the Korean Peninsula is now in a "vicious cycle".
News television channel has recently reported that the United States was ready to strike a preemptive blow on North Korea's military facilities.
Although South Korean and American troops are preparing for a round of joint military exercises - a regular event that Pyongyang has denounced as preparations for an invasion that would justify a massive counterattack - a spokesman for the South Korean joint chiefs of staff said Thursday that Seoul had seen no indications any military action by the North was imminent.
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