Donald Trump warned he was prepared to "solve the problem" of North Korea after the rogue state threatened to launch a nuclear attack on the US at any sign of American aggression.
Mr Trump's warning came as a US naval strike group headed toward the Korean peninsula, a show of force that prompted the nuclear-armed North to declare it was "ready to react to any mode of war desired by the US."
"This goes to prove that the US reckless moves for invading the DPRK have reached a serious phase," a spokesman for the North's foreign ministry said, according to state news agency KCNA.