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US defence chiefs have drawn up nine options for military action against Kim Jong-un’s North Korea to destroy its nuclear weapons threat, the Evening Standard has been told.

They escalate to different levels of intensity and could be pre-emptive or retaliatory, and could be ordered by Donald Trump in response to an attack on the US Pacific naval base on Guam or American allies such as Japan or South Korea.

However, all of them risk triggering a devastating response by Pyongyang against South Korea, using conventional weapons. At least one senior Whitehall figure is concerned that there may be a shift in Washington towards military action.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has opened up a diplomatic channel for talks with the pariah regime. However, Mr Trump tweeted just days ago: “I told Rex Tillerson, our wonderful Secretary of State, that he is wasting his time trying to negotiate with Little Rocket Man [Kim Jong-un].”

The US president’s language has raised fears that it could goad the North Korea dictator into an action which escalates into war.

North Korea has tested long-range missiles that potentially could reach the US and on September 3 conducted its largest test explosion to date, believed to be a hydrogen bomb.

Amid fears that Pyongyang is getting closer to developing a nuclear-tipped missile, tensions have escalated as Mr Trump and the North Korean leader have thrown insults and threats of war at each other. China firmly opposes steps that could bring down the Pyongyang regime but has agreed to tougher UN restrictions on trade.

Beijing ordered North Korean-owned businesses and ventures with Chinese partners to close by early January and has said it would cut off gas and limit shipments of refined petroleum products at the start of next year.

China has also banned imports of North Korean coal, iron and lead ore and seafood but has stopped short of turning off the supply of crude oil, which makes up the bulk of Chinese energy supplies to North Korea.

Beijing has urged Washington to cool its rhetoric and open a dialogue with North Korea which says it will only discuss its weapons programme if America abandons its “hostile policy” towards the regime.