PYONGYANG (Reuters) - North Koreans placed flower baskets and bouquets below portraits of founder president Kim Il Sung on Friday, showing little sign of tension despite fears the reclusive nation may conduct a nuclear test and the United States would retaliate.

The 105th birth anniversary of the founder is on Saturday, celebrated as the Day of the Sun in North Korea, its most important holiday. The North Korean regime often uses such anniversaries for displays of military prowess.

A light rain fell in the capital, Pyongyang, as people wearing gumboots and holding umbrellas walked past portraits of the late leader and signs proclaiming "Sun Day is the most significant event in North Korea".

A military parade is likely to be held on Saturday to mark Kim Il Sung's anniversary but government minders have not confirmed any details with visiting foreign journalists. It is likely the current leader, his grandson Kim Jong Un, will make an appearance.

Such pageantry reinforces the cult of personality around the Kim family, three of whom have ruled North Korea with a vice-like grip. The visiting journalists saw nothing out of the ordinary in Pyongyang despite the talk of war.

However, when foreign journalists visit North Korea, their movements are closely managed and they are usually restricted to Pyongyang. Conversations with people are monitored by government "minders", who also provide translations into English.

Near the birthplace of Kim Il Sung, a pilgrimage spot for North Koreans, commuters moved briskly on and off the subway, young women holding umbrellas walked by, clasping arms, while two children in blue school uniforms shuffled down the street holding a flower basket almost their own size.

"If the enemies want to wage war with our leaders, we have nothing to fear because we will win," said Jon Myon Sop, who works at a bus station.

"I know about how tensions are rising on the Korean Peninsula and how the U.S. and its puppet countries have brought their military assets to the region."

Cho Hyon Ran, a tour guide at the site, said: "We don't want war but we are not afraid of war because we have strong power, our country is the strongest one in the world now.

"You can see all people are laughing, all people are singing, all people are celebrating the Sun's day," she said in English. "We are not afraid of anything."

Noodles in Seoul

Pyongyang's leaders regularly threaten the United States and South Korea with destruction. Technically, North Korea is still at war with the South and its ally, the United States, because the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice and not a peace treaty.

A U.S. aircraft carrier group is headed to Korean waters this week amid concerns that Pyongyang may conduct a nuclear or long-range missile test and U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened unilateral action "to solve the problem".

In South Korea, there is no sign of tension either but also very little talk of war.

Residents in the capital, Seoul, which is within range of the North's artillery, were observing "Black Day" on Friday, a day for singles marked by eating "jajangmyeon", a noodle dish topped with a thick sauce made of black beans.

It's celebrated as a response to "White Day", an Asian Valentine's Day which falls a month earlier, on March 14.

"Outside South Korea, some people are worried, but we don't feel like that in our daily lives," said Choi Na-young, an office worker in central Seoul.

"All I can do is just try my best and work hard," said Choi, as she queued for noodles with colleagues. "So no matter what the outside world thinks, I came here to enjoy Black Day".

(Additional reporting by Ju-min Park and James Pearson; Writing and editing by Raju Gopalakrishnan)

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In his toughest assessment yet of the escalating North Korean ­nuclear crisis, Foreign Minister Wang Yi warned on Friday that a conflict could erupt "at any moment" and whoever provoked it would pay the price.

Analysts said Wang’s warning reflected the danger of an imminent threat.

"Tensions have risen ... and one has the feeling that a conflict could break out at any moment," Wang said Beijing in a press conference with his French counterpart, Jean-Marc Ayrault.

"Once a war really happens, the result will be nothing but loss all round and no one will be a ­winner."

Whichever side provoked a conflict "must assume the historic responsibility and pay the corresponding price", he said.

Tensions have risen sharply since US President Donald Trump took office in January.

Trump has repeatedly criticised Pyongyang for developing nuclear weapons and accused Beijing of not doing enough to stop its wayward ally. Trump’s rhetoric towards China has eased since he hosted President Xi Jinping in Florida last week but his decision to order an air strike against Syria during the summit was widely seen as a warning to North Korea that the US was ready to take unilateral military action.

In addition, the United States and South Korea have started their biggest war games ever, the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier has been sent to the waters off the Korean peninsula, and US satellite imagery suggests Pyongyang could conduct another underground nuclear test at any time.

Pyongyang recently tested a ballistic missile and claims it is close to perfecting an intercontinental ballistic missile and nuclear warhead that could reach the US mainland.

Li Dunqiu, a specialist in Korean studies at Zhejiang University, said Wang’s warning was aimed at both Pyongyang and Washington.

"All three parties – North Korea, South Korea and the US, have direct responsibility – the US in particular for its recent military drills and aircraft carrier deployment [off the water of the peninsula]," Li said.

Li said Beijing was also hoping to send a message across to Pyongyang, adding "it is not possible for North Korea to simply ignore China’s position".

Wang’s remarks also came after Trump took to Twitter again and said: "I have great confidence that China will properly deal with North Korea. If they are unable to do so, the US with its allies, will!"

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North Korea celebrated the 105th anniversary of Kim Il Sung's birth, North Korea's founder, in a customary grandiose display on Saturday afternoon.

Troop formations, missile displays, and armored vehicles rolled through the massive Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang, as the country's current leader, Kim Jong Un, perched on the balcony and gave the occasional nod and salute to thousands of his subjects below.

April 15, also known as the "Day of the Sun," remains significant for the reclusive nation — not only to celebrate its deified founder, but for the opportunity to show the world a glimpse of its military power and the latest technological advances in its arsenal.

One of the debuts included the Pukkuksong-2 SLBM, a submarine-launched ballistic missile, loaded on trucks, according to Reuters.

The parade comes amid rising tensions between North Korea and the rest of the world, after a week-long series of spats directed toward the US, and a looming possibility of the nation's sixth nuclear test. A carrier strike group led by USS Carl Vinson made its way toward North Korea, in addition to a WC-135 "nuke-sniffer" being deployed to neighboring Japan.

"We are sending an armada, very powerful. We have submarines, very powerful, far more powerful than the aircraft carrier," said President Donald Trump to Fox Business Network on Wednesday.

The North Koreans delivered their own reply late Friday, seemingly ignoring the fleet being stationed in their region.

"We're prepared to respond to an all-out war with an all-out war and we are ready to hit back with nuclear attacks of our own style against any nuclear attacks," said Choe Ryong-Hae, a close aide to Kim Jong Un, according to AFP.

Here's what North Korea's 105th parade looked like:

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North Korea invited the world's press into the country this week, as part of the celebrations for the 105th birth anniversary of its founder, Kim Il Sung.

It was a rare glimpse into the highly secretive regime, which has scant resources and regularly suffers famines, but has been developing its nuclear weapons program aggressively.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un used Saturday's parade to show off the country's new ballistic missiles and military hardware.

A senior North Korean politician also said North Korea was prepared for a "nuclear war" and "all out war" against the US, if president Donald Trump continued his aggressive rhetoric about the country.

Here's a look at the parade:

This is Kim Il Sung, the founder of North Korea.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un threw a military parade to show off the country's might and celebrate his grandfather's 105th birth anniversary.

The 'Day of the Sun' parade took place in North Korea's capital, Pyongyang.

WASHINGTON/PYONGYANG (Reuters) - The United States, its allies and China are working together on a range of responses to North Korea's latest attempted ballistic missile test, U.S. President Donald Trump's national security adviser said on Sunday, citing what he called an international consensus to act.

"We are working together with our allies and partners and with the Chinese leadership to develop a range of options," national security adviser H.R. McMaster said on ABC's "This Week" program.

"This latest missile test just fits into a pattern of provocative and destabilizing and threatening behavior on the part of the North Korean regime," McMaster said.

He said the president has asked the national security council to integrate the efforts of the Defense and State departments and U.S. intelligence agencies to develop options if "this pattern of behavior continues and if the North Korean Regime refuses to denuclearize."

"There is an international consensus now, including the Chinese leadership, that this is a situation that just cannot continue," McMaster said.

The North Korean missile "blew up almost immediately" after its test launch on Sunday, the U.S. Pacific Command said.

Hours later U.S. Vice President Mike Pence landed in South Korea for talks on the North's increasingly defiant arms program. His visit comes a day after North Korea held a grand military parade in its capital city of Pyongyang, marking the birth anniversary of the state founder. What appeared to be new long-range ballistic missiles were on display in the parade.

Tensions have been steadily rising as Trump takes a hard rhetorical line with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who has rebuffed admonitions from China and proceeded with nuclear and missile programs seen by Washington as a direct threat.

Trump on Sunday acknowledged that the softer line he has taken on China's management of its currency was linked to China's help on the North Korea issue.

"Why would I call China a currency manipulator when they are working with us on the North Korean problem? We will see what happens!" Trump said on Twitter. Trump has backed away from a campaign promise to label China in that way.

South Korea said the North's latest show of force "threatened the whole world."

But a U.S. foreign policy adviser traveling with Pence on Air Force Two sought to defuse some of the tension, saying the test of what was believed to be a medium-range missile had come as no surprise.

"We had good intelligence before the launch and good intelligence after the launch," the adviser told reporters on condition of anonymity.

"It's a failed test. It follows another failed test. So really no need to reinforce their failure. We don't need to expend any resources against that."The adviser said the missile's flight lasted four or five seconds.

Pence, addressing an Easter service with American troops in South Korea, said the U.S. commitment to South Korea was unwavering.

"Let me assure you under President Trump's leadership, our resolve has never been stronger. Our commitment to this historic alliance with the courageous people of South Korea has never been stronger."

Pence was beginning a 10-day trip to Asia in what his aides said was a sign of U.S. commitment to its ally in the face of rising tension.

The U.S. nuclear-powered Carl Vinson aircraft carrier strike group is also heading to the region. (http://tmsnrt.rs/2p1yGTQ)

China, which Trump has urged to do more to rein in North Korea, has spoken out against its weapons tests and has supported U.N. sanctions. It has repeatedly called for talks while appearing increasingly frustrated with the North.

China banned imports of North Korean coal on Feb. 26, cutting off its most important export. China's customs department issued an order on April 7 telling traders to return North Korean coal cargoes, said trading sources with knowledge of the order.

Tensions rise

Trump's decision to order a cruise missile strike on a Syrian airfield this month, in response to what he said was Syria's use of chemical weapons, raised questions about his plans for reclusive North Korea.

Pyongyang has conducted several missile and nuclear tests in defiance of U.N. sanctions, and regularly threatens to destroy South Korea and the United States.

"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.

But McMaster, who was speaking from Kabul, Afghanistan, acknowledged the likelihood of North Korean retaliation if Washington uses military force in an attempt to stop its weapons programs.

"What (is) particularly difficult about -- about dealing with this regime, is that it is unpredictable," he said.

"It's time for us to undertake all actions we can, short of a military option, to try to resolve this peacefully," he said.

South Korea, which hosts 28,500 U.S. troops and holds a presidential election on May 9, warned of punitive action if the Sunday launch led to further provocation.

"North Korea showing a variety of offensive missiles at yesterday's military parade and daring to fire a ballistic missile today is a show of force that threatens the whole world," South Korea's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Impoverished North Korea and the rich, democratic South are technically still at war because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

The North has warned of a nuclear strike against the United States if provoked. It has said it has developed and would launch a missile that can strike the mainland United States but officials and experts believe it is some time away from mastering the necessary technology, including miniaturizing a nuclear warhead.

North Korea launched a ballistic missile from the same region this month, ahead of a summit between the United States and China in Florida to discuss the North's arms program.

But that missile, which U.S. officials said appeared to be a liquid-fuelled, extended-range Scud, only flew about 60 km (40 miles), a fraction of its range, before spinning out of control.

Tension had escalated sharply amid concern the North may conduct a sixth nuclear test or a ballistic missile test around Saturday's 105th anniversary of the birth of founding father Kim Il Sung, what it calls the "Day of the Sun".

China's top diplomat, Yang Jiechi, and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson exchanged views on the "situation on the Korean peninsula" by phone on Sunday, China's official Xinhua News Agency said. Yang said the two sides should maintain dialogue.

Flower show

In Pyongyang, there was a festive atmosphere at a flower show, with families out, taking pictures with North Korean-made smart phones. There was no mention of the test failure by the KCNA state news agency.

Company worker Rim Chung Ryol, 30, said he had not heard of the test.

"If it is a failure, then failure is the mother of success," he told Reuters.

Factory worker Ri Gul Chol, 37, also had not heard about the missile test.

"But whatever Kim Jong Un decides and instructs will succeed and all the citizens will support him," he said.

(Additional reporting by Roberta Rampton and Ju-min Park in SEOUL, Joseph Campbell and Philip Wen in DANDONG, Christian Shepherd in BEIJING, Daniel Trotta in NEW YORK and Caren Bohan in WASHINGTON; Writing by Nick Macfie and Warren Strobel; Editing by Robert Birsel, Keith Weir and Diane Craft)

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North Korea did not respond this month to requests from senior Chinese diplomats, including the country's foreign minister, to meet North Korean counterparts, amid rising tension with the US, Bloomberg reported on Monday.

Citing unidentified sources, the report said China's special envoy for the North Korea nuclear issue, Wu Dawei, was the other official whose requests for meetings went unanswered.

China's Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report.

Last week, the ministry twice said it had no information to provide on whether Wu would be going to North Korea.

Tension has risen as US President Donald Trump takes a hard rhetorical line with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who has rebuffed admonitions from China and pursued nuclear and missile programs that Washington sees as a direct threat.

(Reporting by Beijing newsroom; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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North Korea rolled out what it claimed were intercontinental ballistic missiles at a parade on Saturday, but according to former Defense Secretary William Perry, it would never use them in a first strike.

Perry told CNN's Christiane Amanpour in November that "North Korea, while they're evil, are not crazy" and that it would not seek to carry out a nuclear first strike on South Korea, Japan, or any US forces stationed there.

Perry, who as the Pentagon chief under President Bill Clinton pushed for the US to strike North Korea's burgeoning nuclear facilities in 1994, said that military action against North Korea no longer made sense and that North Korea wouldn't dare strike first.

"I do not believe the North Korean regime is suicidal," he said. "Therefore I don't believe they're going to launch an unprovoked nuclear attack on anyone."

Perry said that while the situation with North Korea was "unfortunate," he would not support a strike on North Korea since the Hermit Kingdom has a secretive, spread-out nuclear arsenal that the US couldn't hope to knock out before it got a shot off.

"This would be an action which would precipitate a catastrophic nuclear war," Perry said of a US first strike.

In Perry's view, North Korea is more like jihadists — fanatical ideologues who are still thinking somewhat strategically.

"They are not seeking martyrdom," Perry said. "They're not suicidal."

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Tensions between the US and North Korea have reached historic levels, Robert Litwak at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars told the New York Times. 

After North Korea's military parade in Pyongyang on Saturday, a failed missile test, and another potential test of a nuclear device experts say is ready to go, Litwak said the situation resembled "the Cuban missile crisis in slow motion," referencing the peak of Cold war tensions in 1962 when the Soviet Union sent nuclear ballistic missiles to Cuba. 

Except, Litwak said, it's not in slow motion anymore, given the US's new approach to North Korea.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that "our policy of strategic patience has ended," signaling a tougher stance toward South Korea's volatile neighbor. On Monday, Vice President Mike Pence, speaking from the demilitarized zone between North Korea and South Korea, echoed Tillerson's comments nearly verbatim.

Pence added that the US would stand by its "iron-clad alliance" with South Korea, saying that "all options are on the table to achieve the objectives and ensure the stability of the people of this country." 

President Donald Trump told CNN on Monday that North Korea has "got to behave." The White House's forceful response to North Korea camem after a New York Times report that found the US had been waging a covert cyber warfare operation against Pyongyang for at least 3 years. The report attributes North Korea's high rate of failure with Russian-designed missiles to US meddling in the country's missile software and networks.

Despite the country's recent failed missile launch, "the big takeaway is that they’re taking this seriously," Jeffrey Lewis, a North Korea expert at the Middlebury Institute for International Studies at Monterey, told the Times. "They’re trying to develop operational systems that might actually survive on the ground." 

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A State Department official on Monday said there would be a "significant international response" if North Korea were to mount another nuclear test.

In a conference call with reporters, State Department Acting Assistant Secretary Susan Thornton said the US would not "stand idly by" while North Korea "develops and hones" nuclear weapons.

North Korea, led by authoritarian ruler Kim Jong Un, has conducted five nuclear tests so far.

In response to a question about what the US would do in response to a sixth nuclear test, Thornton said that "some kind of major provocation like that would draw pretty significant international response."

"We're definitely not seeking conflict or regime change, but we are committed to defending our people and our allies should it be necessary," Thornton added.

In the past, the US has responded to North Korea's nuclear tests by increasing sanctions, which Thornton said the US is also considering.

The Trump administration wants to "maximize economic pressure on the North Korean regime to try to get it to make tangible steps to roll back their illegal programs," Thornton said.

The Kim regime levels a steady stream of threats against the US, and officials say President Donald Trump is watching the country closely. A senior administration official told reporters in February that Trump views North Korea's nuclear program as the "greatest immediate threat" to the US.

On Sunday, North Korea attempted to fire a missile, but it blew up within seconds.

"There is a feeling that this is a very urgent — not just regional but global — threat at this point," Thornton said. "So I think that when you hear discussion of wanting to evaluate this issue on the priorities list … that reflects the urgency" of the threat.

Despite the warnings issued by the State Department pertaining to another potential North Korean nuclear test, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Monday that "drawing red lines hasn't really worked in the past." Spicer said Trump won't "telegraph" his plan for a response to other provocations from North Korea.

The US is also hoping that China can increase pressure on North Korea to roll back its weapons program.

"President Trump is very hopeful that the Chinese will use the considerable leverage they have over the economic lifeblood of North Korean economy in the service of this effort," Thornton said. "China has indicated appreciation of the urgency of the threat, of the need to have an international coalition mounted and the need for China to do more in stepping up pressure on the North Korean regime."

Thornton's comments came as Vice President Mike Pence was in Asia visiting the demilitarized zone between the Koreas. Pence said "all options are on the table to achieve the objectives and ensure the stability of the people of this country," warning that "the era of strategic patience" with North Korea "is over."

And Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said last month that the US was considering a preemptive military strike on North Korea if they "elevate the threat of their weapons program to a level that we believe requires action."

Alex Lockie contributed to this report.

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RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Defense Secretary Jim Mattis says North Korea's latest failed missile launch was a reckless act of provocation.

Mattis commented on the weekend missile launch in an interview with reporters traveling with him Tuesday to Saudi Arabia, where he begins a weeklong Mideast tour.

His language was stronger than in an initial written statement he issued shortly after the launch, in which he simply said he was aware of the failure.

"The leader of North Korea again recklessly tried to provoke something by launching a missile," he said.

Mattis did not identify the type of missile but said it was not of intercontinental range, meaning it could not reach US territory. He did not comment on what might have caused the missile to fail.

Mattis credited China with trying to help get the North Korea situation "under control" with the goal of denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.

Asked about his visit to Saudi Arabia, Mattis said the desert kingdom was a "pillar of our security framework for the region."

The US military is providing support for a Saudi-led coalition fighting anti-government Houthi rebels, but Mattis said the US focus was on arranging a United Nations-brokered negotiating team to resolve Yemen's civil war diplomatically.

"This is something, with the number of innocent people dying inside Yemen, that simply has to be brought to an end," he said.

The US security alliance with Saudi Arabia, dating to 1944 and based largely on the Saudis' oil riches, has made Washington the kingdom's most important arms supplier.

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15 fascinating facts about North Korea.

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For the past 50 years, the world has grown used to crazy threats from North Korea that don't lead anywhere.

But the threats have taken a decidedly sharper and more ominous tone under Kim Jong Un, the third supreme leader of the hermit kingdom.

North Korea has carried out five nuclear tests under his rule. And on Sunday, the secretive regime attempted to fire a missile. It blew up within seconds.

With all this attention, still relatively little is known of Kim. Here's what we do know of how he grew to be one of the world's scariest dictators:

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Kim Jong Un was born on January 8 — 1982, 1983, or 1984.

His parents were future North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il and his consort, Ko Young Hee. He had an older brother named Kim Jong Chul and would later have a younger sister named Kim Yo Jong.

While Kim Jong Un's official birth year is 1982, various reports suggest that the year was changed for symbolic reasons, including that it was 70 years after the birth of Kim Il Sung and 40 years after the birth of Kim Jong Il.

However, a recent move by the US Treasury Department to sanction Kim Jong Un listed his official date of birth as January 8, 1984.

Jong Un — here with his mother — lived at home as a child.

During this period, North Korea was ruled by "Great Leader" Kim Il Sung. While Kim Jong Il was the heir apparent, Kim Jong Un's path to command was far less certain.

Then it was off to Switzerland to attend boarding school.

Called "Pak Un" and described as the son of an employee of the North Korean embassy, Kim Jong Un is thought to have attended an English-language international school in Gümligen near Bern.

Kim Jong Un is described by former classmates as a quiet student who spent most of his time at home, but he had a sense of humor, too.

"He was funny," former classmate Marco Imhof told The Mirror."Always good for a laugh."

"He had a sense of humor; got on well with everyone, even those pupils who came from countries that were enemies of North Korea,"another former classmate told the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag. "Politics was a taboo subject at school ... we would argue about football, not politics."

The world's youngest leaders hail from across the globe — from democracies, monarchies, and dictatorships in Eastern and Western Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

While seven of the eight leaders are men, the youngest — Vanessa D'Ambrosio, the 28-year-old captain regent of San Marino — is a woman.

Meet the world's eight heads of state under 40:

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8. Volodymyr Groysman, 39, is Ukraine's youngest ever prime minister. He was elected by Parliament in April 2016 and is a close ally of the president, Petro Poroshenko, who took power in 2014 following the ousting of the Russian-backed authoritarian Viktor Yanukovych.

7. Jüri Ratas, 38, is the new prime minister of Estonia (he was voted into office in November 2016) and the leader of the country's Centre Party.

6. Saleh Ali al-Sammad, 38, is the leader of the Houthi militants, who control much of Yemen, including the capital, Sanaa. (The US is providing support to the Saudi-led coalition fighting the Houthis, and Yemen also has a separate provisional government with a president and prime minister.)

Amid ongoing tensions with the US, North Korea has created special-operations forces "for the first time," according to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency.

Pyongyang announced the Korean People's Army special forces during a military parade over the weekend, which marked the anniversary of the 105th birthday of Kim Il Sung, who founded the country and is the grandfather of current leader Kim Jong Un.

The members of the new forces were reportedly shown marching in the parade, decked out in sunglasses and helmets with night-vision goggles.

Their faces were covered in black and camouflage paint, and they carried rifles with grenade launchers.

"Once Supreme Commander Kim Jong-Un issues an order, they will charge with resolve to thrust a sword through the enemy's heart like lighting over Mt. Paektu," an announced said during the parade broadcast, referring to the highest peak on the Korean Peninsula, according to Yonhap.

The forces' debut, and the parade itself, came just a few days before the start of US-South Korea joint military exercises, and analysts who spoke to Yonhap said the formation was related to the exercises — in particular a reported "decapitation attack" simulation to be performed by the US Navy's SEAL Team 6, the unit that killed Osama bin Laden.

The Pentagon has told Business Insider that the US does not train for decapitation attacks of any kind but would not comment on whether SEAL Team 6 was in South Korea.

While the special-operations forces described by Yonhap report were said to have been formed by North Korea "for the first time," previous reports have referred to North Korean special-operations or special-warfare units.

A 2010 report from South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo, citing a defense white paper, said North Korean special forces had grown by 20,000 personnel over the previous two years.

North Korea's special forces, according to the white paper, expanded from 120,000 in 2006 to about 200,000 in 2010, accounting for 17% of Pyongyang's forces at that point.

Those roughly 200,000 "special troops are primed to carry out combined operations such as attacks on major facilities in South Korea, assassination of VIPs and harassment in the rear by infiltrating the South using underground tunnels."

Tunnels from North Korea into South Korea have been found before, though none have been uncovered since 1990.

In a 2012 Vice interview, a purported South Korean-born NATO soldier detailed South Korean defense planning and said that North Korea had "something like 130,000 well-trained special forces" who would land on the South Korean coast to "promote general chaos" in should a conflict break out.

Recent tensions between Washington and Pyongyang have been focused on the latter's nuclear-weapons program and missile testing.

US Vice President Mike Pence, visiting the demilitarized zone on Monday, said the US had no more strategic patience with North Korea and was considering military force against the regime. North Korean Vice Minister Han Song Ryol responded that if "the US is planning a military attack against us, we will react with a nuclear pre-emptive strike by our own style and method."

The US has also considered shooting down future North Korean missile tests, according to The Guardian, though experts and former officials warned that such a move risked sparking escalation that the US may not be able to control.

US military officials indicated earlier this month that the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson and its support group would sail toward the Korean Peninsula in response to rising tensions and reports of a looming North Korea missile test.

However, on April 15, the carrier was pictured passing through Indonesia toward the Indian Ocean — about 3,500 miles from Korea. The ships are currently operating in the Indian Ocean, conducting exercises with Australian naval forces, according to Defense News.

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When North Korea rolled out a few submarine-launched missiles for the first time over the weekend, some observers noticed that the trucks belonged to a Chinese company — Sinotruk.

North Korea celebrated the Day of the Sun, the anniversary of the birth of North Korean founder Kim Il Sung, with a military parade, during which the regime showed off its weapons for war. Half a dozen KN-11 SLBMs were displayed during the show, and they were brought out on Chinese vehicles.

Some observers also suggested that the trucks carrying a potential intercontinental ballistic missile model were also of Chinese origin. There were also North Korean military trucks on Chinese tires produced by Triangle Group.

The UNs prohibits the sale of military equipment to North Korea, but dual-use products are harder to regulate and even harder to track. Both Sinotruk and Triangle said they were unaware that their products were used in North Korea’s military parade. A Sinotruk HOWO vehicle was used to showcase a North Korean artillery system last year.

"From my understanding, we haven’t had any business with the North Korean market since last year," a Sinotruk representative told Reuters, adding, "North Korea has never been a major focus of ours."

The company suggested that the trucks may have been refitted.

Referring to the tires, a Triangle Group representative said, "It’s possible they were resold from somewhere else."

While there is the possibility that Chinese companies knowingly exported dual-use goods to North Korea with advanced knowledge of North Korea’s intent, there is no immediate evidence. In 2010, North Korea’s forestry ministry told China that it needed heavy trucks to haul timber.

Chinese trucks have also been used for mining and construction.

At the same time, Chinese companies have been involved in the shipment of banned technology to North Korea. A recent Wall Street Journal report revealed that North Korean missiles are being developed using components imported from China. The report said that North Korea would not have been able to advance its missile program to the levels seen today without Chinese assistance. It is unclear if the Chinese state government was simply unaware or complicit, but the report demonstrated the difficulty in cutting North Korea off and isolating the country from the world.

It is unclear how much China will cooperate with the Trump administration’s efforts to rein in North Korea, as the relationship between Beijing and Pyongyang and Beijing and Washington are both complicated.

China is adamant that it upholds international law and all related UN resolutions. "As a permanent member of the UN Security Council, China strictly adheres to its international responsibilities," Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lu Kang said, replying to questions about the trucks in North Korea’s parade.

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Their stares are cold, tenacious and emotionless. They appeared bent to rip each other’s jugular out at the drop of the proverbial hat. The irony is that they don’t – and haven’t, since 1953.

US President Donald Trump promised to send the “powerful” USS Carl Vinson carrier group to the Korean Peninsula last week; after some misstatements and bad press about the “missing armada”, the strike group is now expected to arrive in the Sea of Japan sometime next week.

But one can only suspect that amid the hyperbole of “going it alone”, Trump knows he can’t poke a stick in the eye of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, much as he might want to.

Indeed, the truce brokered between the North and South by the United Nations, for better or worse, continues to hold, making the demilitarised zone (DMZ) one of the world’s most famous oxymorons; the entire border is still filled with millions of live land mines.

Neither side can venture across the border like the charge of the light brigade, which explains why artilleries, flyers and missiles often take the central role in their occasional taunts.

Yet the intensity of the soldiers’ gazes belies another strategic doctrine at work: the threat of immediate retaliation should one side step out of line. US Vice President Mike Pence can squint at the North Koreans as he likes – Pyongyang just doesn’t care.

However, knowing that the US and South Korea have conventional and nuclear superiority, Trump’s predecessor Barack Obama opted for strategic patience. That is, of course, now over.

After all, if the Soviet Union could collapse on its own “internal contradictions”, why should North Korea be any different, especially when Kim is a young upstart?

Right logic but wrong analogy. This is where the script gets interesting.

To begin with, the Soviet Union was a federation. If the centre cannot hold, the rest of the republics will break away, as they did in 1991, to form the Commonwealth of Independent States.

The Soviet Union’s disintegration also saw Mikhail Gorbachev ceding ground to his nemesis Boris Yeltsin. None of these scenarios can occur in North Korea.

To begin with, North Korea is a dynastic kingdom, whose power had been handed from one generation to the other based on primogeniture.

More astoundingly, almost like a quirk of fate, Kim actually resembles his grandfather Kim Il-sung, in both form and shape. Perhaps it further enhances the mystique of the young Kim.

Some analysts speculate that Kim does not mind the physical comparisons to Kim Il-sung, and has even intentionally put on more weight to look like his rotund grandfather, all with the aim of adding to his aura of invincibility.

Of course, all that weight does take a toll on his young physique, both emotionally and physically, which is why Kim, from time to time, has disappeared for weeks without end, ostensibly to overcome his struggles with gout.

Be that as it may, Kim takes his namesake seriously as well. No one else in North Korea is allowed to carry his name, though students and officers are encouraged to don his peculiar hairstyle.

His half brother Kim Jong-nam was close to sharing the same name, and was duly assassinated in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on February 13.

Kim Jong-un’s elder brother Kim Jong-chul may yet be saved by his effeminate nature – Kim knows he will not be a threat.

Indeed, had Kim sensed any threat from his elder brother, he might have shared his uncle Jang Sung-taek’s fate – executed to prevent him from usurping Kim’s powers.

International journalists who have seen Kim up close, especially while he bantered and joked with US basketball star Dennis Rodman in Pyongyang, noticed without any sense of irony that he intentionally walks with an “old man’s gait”, similar to his grandfather.

The grandson, it seems, has internalised the spirit and form of the founder of North Korea.

By declaring the end of “strategic patience”, one wonders if Trump or his vice-president are aware of Kim’s alter ego. They are dealing with a man who thinks he can carry the mantle of his grandfather. This also means he believes he can fight the good fight.

Thus, Trump and Pence are not necessarily dealing with someone who is in his 30s, but one who seems determined to mimic and emulate the achievements of his grandfather, whose 105th birthday was recently celebrated with aplomb.

Kim’s father Kim Jong-il provides another insight into his behaviour. When he was sick, about a year from his death, he launched more than 100 rounds of artilleries into the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong in November 2010.

The true goal was to test the resolve of US and South Korea on the threshold of their strategic patience. Fortunately, US and South Korea were unmoved; the status quo remained. Besides, 25 per cent of those ordinances did not explode.

In late 2011, just when Kim Jong-il died, he handed the reins of power to Kim Jong-un, perhaps reassured by the thought that the strategic patience displayed by the US and South Korea was real.

Yet, the new Kim’s dynasty is most aggressive when weak or threatened, whether internally or abroad.

The US should not force Kim into a corner, as all signs point to a very insecure man. By morphing himself into the image of his grandfather,and by killing many of his father’s loyalists, Kim is trying to assert himself as his own man.

Kim has already illustrated the extent to which he will go to protect his position; imagine what he would do if he senses that he might lose it all to US and South Korea.

Phar Kim Beng is a former scholar of the Japan Foundation and president of Echo Strategic Insight

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North Korean state media warned the United States of a "super-mighty preemptive strike" after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said the United States was looking at ways to bring pressure to bear on North Korea over its nuclear program.

US President Donald Trump has taken a hard line with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who has rebuffed admonitions from its sole major ally, China, and proceeded with nuclear and missile programs in defiance of UN Security Council sanctions.

Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of the North's ruling Workers' Party, did not mince its words.

"In the case of our super-mighty preemptive strike being launched, it will completely and immediately wipe out not only US imperialists' invasion forces in South Korea and its surrounding areas but the US mainland and reduce them to ashes," it said.

Reclusive North Korea regularly threatens to destroy Japan, South Korea, and the United States and has shown no letup in its belligerence after a failed missile test on Sunday, a day after putting on a huge display of missiles at a parade in Pyongyang.

Tillerson told reporters in Washington on Wednesday that the United States was "reviewing all the status of North Korea, both in terms of state sponsorship of terrorism as well as the other ways in which we can bring pressure on the regime in Pyongyang."

US Vice President Mike Pence, on a tour of Asian allies, has repeatedly said an "era of strategic patience" with North Korea is over.

House Speaker Paul Ryan said during a visit to London that the military option must be part of the pressure.

"Allowing this dictator to have that kind of power is not something that civilized nations can allow to happen," he said, alluding to Kim.

Ryan said he was encouraged by the results of efforts to work with China to reduce tensions, but that it was unacceptable that North Korea might be able to strike allies with nuclear weapons.

North and South Korea are technically still at war because their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

'Max Thunder'

South Korea's acting president, Hwang Kyo-ahn, at a meeting with top officials on Thursday repeatedly called for the military and security ministries to maintain vigilance.

The defense ministry said US and South Korean air forces were conducting an annual training exercise, codenamed Max Thunder, until April 28. North Korea routinely labels such exercises preparations for an invasion.

"We are conducting a practical and more intensive exercise than ever," South Korean pilot Col. Lee Bum-chul told reporters. "Through this exercise, I am sure we can deter war and remove our enemy's intention to provoke us."

South Korean presidential candidates clashed on Wednesday night in a debate over the planned deployment in South Korea of a US-supplied Terminal High Altitude Area Defense anti-missile system, which has angered China.

On Monday, Hwang and Pence reaffirmed their plans to go ahead with the deployment, but the decision will be up to the next South Korean president. China says the system's powerful radar is a threat to its security.

The North has said it has developed a missile that can strike the mainland United States, but officials and experts believe it is some time away from mastering the necessary technology, including miniaturizing a nuclear warhead.

The United States and Russia clashed at the United Nations on Wednesday over a US-drafted Security Council statement to condemn North Korea's latest failed ballistic missile test.

Diplomats said China had agreed to the statement.

Such statements by the 15-member council have to be agreed on by consensus.

Previous statements denouncing missile launches said it "welcomed efforts by council members, as well as other states, to facilitate a peaceful and comprehensive solution through dialogue." The latest draft statement dropped "through dialogue," and Russia requested its inclusion.

"When we requested to restore the agreed language that was of political importance and expressed commitment to continue to work on the draft ... the US delegation without providing any explanations cancelled the work on the draft," the Russian UN mission said in a statement.

The United States cut the words because they "would overly narrow the means by which the international community could arrive at a peaceful and comprehensive solution to the North Korean nuclear problem," it told council members, according to diplomats.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said China believed in the Security Council maintaining unity.

"Speaking with one voice is extremely important to the Security Council appropriately responding to the relevant issue on the peninsula," he told reporters.

There was confusion over the whereabouts of a US aircraft carrier group after Trump said last week he sent an "armada" as a warning to North Korea, even as the ships were far from Korean waters.

The US military's Pacific Command explained that the USS Carl Vinson strike group first had to complete a shorter-than-planned period of training with Australia. It is now heading for the western Pacific as ordered, it said.

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At a joint press conference with Italian Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni on Thursday, Fox News reporter John Roberts asked President Donald Trump about North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's mental health.

"Do you believe that the leader of North Korea is mentally unstable? Is he a man who can be reasoned with?" asked Roberts.

While Trump didn't address Kim's mental state, he did promise a military buildup.

"As far as North Korea is concerned, we're in very good shape. We're building our military rapidly," said Trump.

"I've been here for approximately 91 days. We're doing a lot of work. I can't answer your question on stability. I hope the answer is a positive one, not a negative one," Trump continued.

The president then shifted to talking about his meeting and understanding with China's president, Xi Jinping, who Trump has repeatedly stressed is a key player in solving the North Korean dilemma.

"I have great respect for the president of China," Trump said.

"All of the pundits are saying they never have seen China work like they're working now" to address North Korea, Trump said. The US president later referenced China rejecting routine coal shipments from Pyongyang while North Korea appears on the verge of another nuclear test.

Without specifying, Trump said "some very unusual moves have been made over the last two or three hours" between China and North Korea.

"I have absolute confidence that he will be trying very hard" to handle North Korea, Trump said of Xi.

Trump again stressed that he leveraged the US and China's trade relationship to pressure Xi into doing something about "the menace of North Korea."

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Amid rising tensions between the Washington and Pyongyang, North Korea’s ruling party released a statement April 20 threatening to obliterate the United States, South Korea and their allies in the West in a “super-mighty preemptive strike”— again.

Despite the fact that their weapons programs remain, well, pitiful, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has a long history of saber-rattling, sometimes making multiple threats a day that he’ll bring about nuclear winter and the demise of mankind.

Obviously, we’re all still here, and so is Seoul. But as hollow as Pyongyang’s dramatic threats have been, they’re still pretty entertaining. We decided to rank our favorite ridiculous threats to come out of the “hermit kingdom” over the last few years.

6. North Korean officials to “imperial” Americans last March: “We will not hesitate to slap them…”

“…with a preemptive nuclear strike.” The video was a response to new United Nations’ sanctions. In addition to promising nuclear smackdown, the video depicted a computer-generated attack on Washington, D.C. To be fair, no one was worried. This happens like once every three days.

5. Kim Jong Un threatened to end America over that weird-ass Seth Rogen movie.

In 2014, Sony Pictures did the unthinkable. They called it “The Interview,” a satirical buddy film about Seth Rogen and James Franco trying to assassinate Kim Jong Un. The movie was so controversial that Sony decided not to release it in theaters, for fear that it would spark terrorist attacks. But that didn’t stop North Korea from reportedly hacking Sony’s database and sharing some pretty embarrassing information. Because we all know, smearing the reputations of celebs and movie producers is a real blow to “American imperialism.”

4. In 2013, Pyongyang declared a “state of war” with a “boiled pumpkin.”

After witnessing an anti-chemical warfare exercise in South Korea in April 2013, North Korea declared that it had entered a state of war with South Korea. It also called the America a “boiled pumpkin.” I didn’t realize the United States was basically what happens when you leave a jack o’lantern on your porch until December. On behalf of all Americans, I would just like to apologize for being a smelly, soggy pile of orange squash.

3. John McCain fat-shamed Kim Jong Un, and the North Korean leader threatened war in retaliation.

“China is the one, the only one, that can control Kim Jong Un, this crazy fat kid that’s running North Korea,” Vietnam POW and Republican Arizona Sen. John McCain said in March. This comment, North Korean media said, was essentially a declaration of war. “Hardline conservative lawmakers of the U.S. Congress have dared to take on our greatest dignity,” a DPRK spokesman said. “It is the most hostile expression about our ideology, system and people, and a severe provocation equivalent to a declaration of war.”

It’s been almost a month since McCain dared to insult the supreme leader, and I haven’t really seen its military storm any beaches or drop any bombs. McCain, for his part, responded to the flap in the McCainest way possible:

2. North Korea threatened to turn an island in South Korea into a “sea of fire.”

In 2013, frustrated over a new round of international sanctions, Kim Jong Un gave his soldiers a pep-talk about turning South Korea’s Baengnyeong Island — the site of several past testy north-south clashes — into a “sea of fire.” The dear leader reportedly told his troops: “Once an order is issued, you should break the waists of the crazy enemies, totally cut their windpipes and thus clearly show them what a real war is like.” Obviously, this plan never came to fruition. But I don’t know why anyone would complain about a fire island. New York has one, and I’m told it’s a lot of fun. You might even say, “It’s LIT.”

1. North Korea is planning a “super-mighty preemptive strike.”

So… this week has been fun.The most recent, and perhaps most ridiculous threat to date came through on April 20. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said this week that the United States was looking into ways to roll back North Korea’s nuclear program. North Korea’s leading communist party paper didn’t take kindly to that. “In the case of our super-mighty preemptive strike being launched,” the mouthpiece said, “it will completely and immediately wipe out not only U.S. imperialists’ invasion forces in South Korea and its surrounding areas but the U.S. mainland and reduce them to ashes.” Look, I know it was 4/20, and weed is awesome, but maybe don’t get super-mighty high before you threaten to reduce the world’s most powerful country to ashes?

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PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — North Korea has detained a U.S. citizen, officials said Sunday, bringing to three the number of Americans now being held there.

Tony Kim, who also goes by his Korean name Kim Sang-duk, was detained on Saturday, according to Park Chan-mo, the chancellor of the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology.

Park said Kim, who is in his 50s, taught accounting at the university for about a month. He said Kim was detained by officials as he was trying to leave the country from Pyongyang's international airport.

The Swedish Embassy in Pyongyang said it was aware of a Korean-American citizen being detained recently, but could not comment further.

The embassy looks after consular affairs for the United States in North Korea because the two countries do not have diplomatic relations.

Park said Kim had taught at the Yanbian University of Science and Technology in China before coming to Pyongyang. He said he was informed that the detention had "nothing to do" with Kim's work at the university but did not know further details.

As of Sunday night, North Korea's official media had not reported on the detention.

Though no details on why Kim was detained have been released, the detention comes at a time of unusually heightened tensions between the U.S. and North Korea. Both countries have recently been trading threats of war and having another American in jail will likely up the ante even further.

Last year, Otto Warmbier, then a 21-year-old University of Virginia student from suburban Cincinnati, was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor in prison after he confessed to trying to steal a propaganda banner.

Kim Dong Chul, who was born in South Korea but is also believed to have U.S. citizenship, is serving a sentence of 10 years for espionage.

Another foreigner, a Canadian pastor, is also being detained in North Korea. Hyeon Soo Lim, a South Korean-born Canadian citizen in his 60s, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 2015 on charges of trying to use religion to destroy the North Korean system and helping U.S. and South Korean authorities lure and abduct North Korean citizens.

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