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.