China says US wants diplomatic solution to N. Korea standoff

But the situation concerns the entire world, such are the potentially catastrophic implications of a nuclear conflict.

In Japan, they said Pence's two main goals are to spur increased USA access to Japanese markets and strengthen Japanese foreign investment.

The official briefed reporters on customary condition of anonymity after U.S. Vice President Mike Pence met Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso in Tokyo to launch the U.S. -Japan Economic Dialogue.

However, it drew strong response from regional countries as well as the United States. While the North did not conduct a nuclear test, the specter of a potential test and an escalated USA response has trailed Pence as he undertakes his Asian tour.

Kim said the DPRK's policy is shaped by the Trump administration's push for "high intensity sanctions" against the country, deploying tactical nuclear weapons in South Korea and launching military action aimed at "beheading" the North's leadership headed by Kim Jong Un.

Before Pence's arrival, Aso told reporters the talks were meant to provide, "not friction, but cooperation".

"North Korea would do well not to test his resolve-or the strength of the armed forces of the United States in this region", Pence said at the start of a 10-day trip to Asia.

H.R. McMaster indicated that Trump was not considering military action for now, even as a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier strike group was heading for the region.

A resident from the apartment reported to police, saying a number of leaflets are falling from the sky, they said.

"There is an global consensus now, including the Chinese leadership, that this is a situation that just can not continue".

The Trump administration is focusing its North Korea strategy on tougher economic sanctions, possibly including an oil embargo, a global ban on its airline, intercepting cargo ships and punishing Chinese banks doing business with Pyongyang, Reuters reported last week, citing U.S. officials.

"It seems the focus is now firmly on future missile tests from North Korea and whether any future tests will actually be successful", said IG (Frankfurt: A0EARV - news) market strategist Chris Weston. "The British are deathly afraid of rapprochement between the USA and Russian Federation and if China is part of that, they are even more afraid".

Australia's government has reissued calls for China to do more to rein in North Korea as the rogue nation threatens "weekly" missile tests.

The interview does though give a hint of the new worrying unpredictability at play.

Kim said the Korean Peninsula has become "the world's biggest hotspot" due to the "aggressive war drill" being conducted by the USA and South Korea there. "The recent United States massive missile attack on Syria tells you well of it".

An unidentified mobile rocket lancher is displayed during a military parade marking the 105th anniversary of the birth of late North Korean leader Kim Il-Sung, in Pyongyang on April 15, 2017.

"That's something that we've never seen tested". Trump said on Twitter.

But what is to prevent Xi from pocketing Trump's concessions and continuing on the strategic course China has long pursued?

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said China conducts "normal" business with its neighbour North Korea while adhering to sanctions imposed beginning in 2006 by the U.N. Security Council.

Meanwhile, China made a plea for a return to negotiations. "Pyongyang didn't respond to requests from China Foreign Minister Wang Yi and Wu Dawei, the country's top envoy for North Korean nuclear affairs, to meet with their North Korean counterparts", the report said.

China has recently shown "tangible indications" that it is cooperating with the U.S.to turn up the pressure on Pyongyang, a senior State Department official said Monday. As the vice president stood and looked on, North Korean soldiers quickly came out on their side of MDL and began taking pictures of Pence. "If the U.S. is reckless enough to use military means it would mean from that very day, an all-out war".

For weeks Washington has pushed the view that Beijing is the key to solving the North Korean nuclear problem.

Earlier, China and Russian Federation dispatched spy vessels to shadow Mr Trump's "armada" as it steams to North Korean waters, according to Japanese media.

It comes as the hermit kingdom threatens to test nuclear missiles weekly as its vice foreign minister warned the United States could face "all out war".

So while with worldwide diplomacy World War 3 could be avoided, North Korea doesn't seem to be backing down.

United States concerns have mounted amid signs of progress in Pyongyang's efforts to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of landing a nuclear warhead on the U.S. mainland.