N. Korea vs USA

North Korea on Sunday blasted the United States and South Korea as “warmongers” on the eve of their largest-ever joint air exercise, saying it could trigger a nuclear war.

The comments came as White House National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster warned of the “increasing” possibility of war with the impoverished but nuclear-armed North.

The five-day Vigilant Ace drill - involving some 230 aircraft including F-22 Raptor stealth jet fighters – began yesterday, five days after the North test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile believed capable of hitting the US mainland in a fresh challenge to President Donald Trump.

The North's ruling party Rodong newspaper slammed the upcoming drill.

“It is an open, all-out provocation against the DPRK, which may lead to a nuclear war any moment,” it said in an editorial on Sunday, using the North's official name.

“The US and South Korean puppet warmongers would be well advised to bear in mind that their DPRK-targeted military drill will be as foolish as an act precipitating their self-destruction,” it said.

The commentary was published a day after Pyongyang's foreign ministry accused the Trump administration of “begging for nuclear war” by staging what it called the reckless air drills.

McMaster said the possibility of war with the North was “increasing every day”.

“There are ways to address this problem short of armed conflict, but it is a race because he's getting closer and closer, and there's not much time left,” he said.

The North says the Hwasong-15 missile fired Wednesday can be tipped with a “super-large heavy warhead” capable of striking the whole US mainland.

But analysts remain unconvinced that it has mastered the advanced technology to allow the rocket to survive re-entry to the Earth's atmosphere.

The months-long nuclear standoff between Kim and Trump has fuelled concerns of another conflict, after the 1950-53 Korean War left much of the peninsula in ruin.

In the meanwhile, another top Republican lawmaker warned on Sunday that the United States moves closer to pre-emptive war with North Korea every time Pyongyang carries out a missile or nuclear test.

“If there's an underground nuclear test, then you need to get ready for a very serious response by the United States,” Senator Lindsey Graham said on CBS' “Face the Nation”.

His remarks echoed those of McMaster, who told a security forum in Washington on Saturday that the potential for war with North Korea “is increasing every day”.

The United States has demanded tougher international sanctions, including cuts in oil shipments to the isolated state, but both McMaster and Graham suggested that the risk of war is growing despite the diplomatic efforts. Graham, a foreign policy hawk, said he has had extensive discussions with the Trump administration about the situation. The administration's policy, he said, is “to deny North Korea the capability to hit America with a nuclear-tipped missile. Not to contain it”.

“Denial means pre-emptive war as a last resort. That pre-emption is becoming more likely as their technology matures. Every missile test, every underground test of a nuclear weapon, means the marriage is more likely.

“I think we're really running out of time. The Chinese are trying, but ineffectively,” he said.

Beijing has backed a slew of sanctions that include bans on imports of North Korean coal, iron ore and seafood. The UN also barred the hiring of North Korean guest workers and capped exports of refined petroleum products.

But China has refused to turn off its pipeline shipping crude to North Korea. North Korea has boasted - and western experts agree - that the missile tested on Wednesday is capable of reaching the United States.

In September, it conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test. It is unclear whether it has succeeded in making nuclear warheads small enough to be put atop a missile.

NAMPA/AFP