Yahoo News North Korea warns of all-out war over US provocations
Pyongyang has warned the US over what it said were its "mad-cap nuclear war provocations", aimed at violating "the sovereignty and vital rights of North Korea at any cost".
A statement of the Foreign Ministry, released on Friday and read out on state TV on Saturday, said North Korea possessed a "powerful nuclear deterrent" which would enable it to react to a "total war with an all-out war".
Tensions are elevated on the Korean Peninsula, with the Trump administration saying that all options are on the table and a US aircraft carrier heading toward the region began joint exercises with Japanese naval ships in the Philippine Sea on Sunday.
Two Japanese destroyers joined the USS Carl Vinson and two other US warships as they continued their journey north in the western Pacific Ocean, the US Navy said in a statement.
The Vinson had canceled a scheduled visit to Australia to divert toward North Korea in a show of force, though it still conducted a curtailed training exercise with Australia before doing so.
The statement and the US-Japan exercises come amid indications North Korea may be preparing to test a nuclear weapon or long-range missile.
North Korea often marks significant dates by displaying military capability, and South Korean officials say there's a chance the country will conduct its sixth nuclear test or its maiden test launch of an ICBM around the founding anniversary of its military on Tuesday.
