US Vice President Mike Pence used a visit to the heavily militarised border between the two Koreas Monday to declare "all options are on the table" in dealing with Pyongyang, the day after the North's latest failed missile test.
Addressing US service members and their families at a "fellowship meal" in Seoul, Pence noted the "challenging time" for the world.
In his ABC interview, McMaster said Trump had directed USA military, diplomatic and intelligence officials to provide him with options, in concertation with regional allies including China, that could be used "if the North Korea regime refuses to denuclearise".
Following the failed launch last night, National Security Advisor General McMaster revealed that the United States and China were working on a "range of options" to deal with Kim Jong-un's North Korea.
Pence will be tasked with explaining the policy in meetings with leaders in South Korea and Japan at the start of his trip, which will also include stops in Indonesia and Australia.
North Korea celebrated the 105th birthday of the country's late founder, Kim Il Sung, by rolling out intercontinental ballistic missiles and other military hardware at a massive parade on Saturday with third-generation leader Kim Jong Un looking in delight.
The adviser said the missile's flight lasted four or five seconds.
"The president has made clear that he will not accept the United States and its allies and partners in the region being under threat from this hostile regime with nuclear weapons", McMaster told ABC.
Mr Pence noted that the USA commitment to South Korea was unwavering.
US Vice President Mike Pence walks with Commander General Vincent K. Brooks as he arrives at Camp Bonifas near the truce village of Panmunjom, in Paju, South Korea. North Korea regularly fires short-range missiles, but it is also developing mid-range and long-range missiles meant to target US troops in Asia and, eventually, the USA mainland.
"There is an global consensus now, including the Chinese leadership, that this is a situation that just can not continue", McMaster said.
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He is also planning to reassure South Korean and Japanese officials that Washington will defend them against North Korea.
Tensions between Pyongyang and Washington have soared in recent weeks, as a series of North Korean weapons tests have wrought ever-more bellicose warnings from Donald Trump's administration.
North Korea has indicated that it plans to conduct another nuclear test, and that may not be far off as satellite images show that preparations are already complete. The missile failed, but the test suggests that the North will continue with its provocations.
Amid sharply heightened tension over North Korea's nuclear and missile programs, McMaster said the United States and allies were studying all actions "short of a military option", though the Trump administration has taken pains never to completely rule that out.
"The North attempted to launch an unidentified missile from near the Sinpo region this morning but it is suspected to have failed", the South's Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement.
An unnamed USA official says it was not thought to have been an intercontinental ballistic missile.
South Korea's Defense Ministry said it was analyzing exactly how the North Korean launch failed.
North Korea has spent decades trying to develop operational nuclear weapons.
The US, which has moved an aircraft carrier and several other warships towards the Korean peninsula, has previously warned its policy of "strategic patience" with North Korea is over.
Sinpo, where the launch took place, is the site of a North Korean submarine base and where the North has tested the submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) it is developing.
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