Pence says USA stands by ally Japan on North Korea problem

Kim In Ryong, North Korea's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, also warned against nuclear war at a news conference.

North Korea could potentially strike Australia if its missile program was allowed to continue, she said. "We are with you 100 percent". The Kremlin called for all sides to "show restraint" and not take actions that could be perceived as "provocative".

A senior North Korean official then accused the United States of bringing the countries to the brink of thermonuclear war.

On January 19, USA intelligence satellites picked up signs of activity at North Korea's Chamjin missile factory southwest of Pyongyang, in an apparent readying of a test of two intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs).

"U.S. Vice President Pence's comments on the bilateral trade pact are in line with the U.S. president's trade policy agenda for 2017 that includes a review of major FTAs and a pair of executive orders focused on reducing the U.S. trade deficit with other major countries".

The Pentagon has not discussed which missile blew up after its launch Sunday from a base near Sinpo on the North's east coast, and the White House has said only that it was a medium-range device.

Mr Kelly also claimed that the recent elaborate weapons show was in the planning long before Donald Trump was elected US President.

The Trump administration wants to attract more foreign direct investment, hoping to attract some with a $1 trillion plan to rebuild USA roads, bridges and other infrastructure.

"There's a lot of economic and political pressure points that I think China can utilize", Spicer said at his daily briefing.

"I don't think they're going to admit that they got it wrong, because that implies some kind of weakness about the regime". On February 11, it reported it had successfully completed the launch of a new ballistic missile, the previously unknown Pukguksong-2, according to state media.

The deployment decision has been under fire from the opposition bloc as it was made without any parliamentary approval and public discussions.

"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.

In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters he hopes "there will be no unilateral actions like those we saw recently in Syria and that the USA will follow the line that President Trump repeatedly voiced during the election campaign".

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow could not accept North Korea's "reckless nuclear actions" but the United States should not take unilateral action against it. For its part, China made a plea for a return to negotiations.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said all parties should make efforts to resolve the situation. "While all options are on the table", Pence said, "President Trump is determined to work closely with Japan, with South Korea, with all our allies in the region, and with China" to resolve the problem.

It kicked off, on March 6, with North Korea's firing of four ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan (also known as the East Sea) in what Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe described as "an extremely risky action". At the same time, dialogue for the sake of dialogue would be meaningless.

A Japanese official told Kyodo News that Pence told Abe the US believes "China fully understands the issue and will take action that will lead to further pressure on North Korea".

He told the parliamentary session that the government is formulating measures including protecting foreigners, creating landing procedures, building and operating shelters, and screening asylum seekers. "Conceivably, they'd prefer not to see instability and military escalation on the Korean Peninsula".

Abe hailed Pence's visit as "extremely timely given the severe state of the situation surrounding North Korea".

"[North Korea] is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the U.S.", Kim In Ryong, North Korea's deputy ambassador to the United Nations, said in Panmunjom, North Korea.

North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs have raised tensions between Pyongyang and Washington and increased talk of war.

North Korea could react to a potential USA strike by targeting South Korea or Japan, and officials in Tokyo and Seoul have been ill at ease with the more bellicose language deployed by Trump's administration. On Thursday, the US military said it had dropped "the mother of all bombs", the largest non-nuclear device it has ever unleashed in combat, on a network of caves and tunnels used by Islamic State in Afghanistan. "But at every step of the way, North Korea answered our overtures with willful deception, broken promises and nuclear and missile tests".