Mr Trump appeared to be responding to a statement from a North Korean spokesman threatening "catastrophic consequences" for the US manoeuvres, adding that the isolated country is "ready" for "any mode" of war. US President Donald Trump: "I can't tell you how good I feel about this." Credit:AP "We will hold the US wholly accountable for the catastrophic consequences to be entailed by its outrageous actions," a North Korean foreign ministry spokesman said in a report published by the state-run Korean Central News Agency. North Korea "is ready to react to any mode of war desired by the US," the statement said. The US has long wanted China to intervene more forcefully with North Korea and use its leverage over the North Korean economy to force Pyongyang to give up its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. Chinese officials are afraid of sparking an economic collapse in North Korea that could send thousands of refugees into China. New nuclear test expected

Experts believe that North Korea may be preparing to conduct its sixth nuclear test on Saturday, to coincide with the birthday of its founder, Kim Il-sung. North Korean official newspaper Rodong Sinmun said the country was prepared to respond to any aggression by the United States. North Korea, led by Kim Jong-un, has threatened to respond to a US show of force. Credit:AP "Our revolutionary strong army is keenly watching every move by enemy elements with our nuclear sight focused on the US invasionary bases not only in South Korea and the Pacific operation theatre but also in the US mainland," it said. South Korea's acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn warned of "greater provocations" by North Korea and ordered the military to intensify monitoring and ensure close communication with Washington.

"It is possible the North may wage greater provocations such as a nuclear test timed with various anniversaries including the Supreme People's Assembly," said Mr Hwang, acting leader since former president Park Geun-hye was removed amid a graft scandal. China's ambassador to the United Nations, Liu Jieyi, repeated China's call for a return to dialogue with North Korea. "The situation is tense and we certainly want a peaceful solution and we believe that it is highly important to move toward denuclearization, to maintain peace and stability and it's time that different sides sit down to talk about achieving these objectives," he told Reuters. Asked about Mr Trump linking a trade deal to China's help with North Korea: "We need to look at the situation on the Korean Peninsula as something that we should work together on." North Korea convened a Supreme People's Assembly session on Tuesday, one of its twice-yearly sessions attended by leader Kim Jong Un, and reported a successful national budget execution and personnel appointments, the official KCNA news agency said.

The agency made no mention of North Korea's nuclear weapons programme or being under threat from the United States. South Korean officials sought to quell talk in social media of an impending security crisis. "We'd like to ask for precaution so as not to get blinded by exaggerated assessment about the security situation on the Korean peninsula," Defence Ministry spokesman Moon Sang-kyun said. Assad sends congratulations to North Korea A military parade is expected in Pyongyang to mark Kim Il-Sung's birthday. North Korea often also marks important anniversaries with tests of its nuclear or missile capabilities in breach of UN Security Council resolutions.

Men and women in colourful outfits were singing and dancing on the streets of Pyongyang, illuminated by better lighting than seen in previous years, apparently practising for the parade. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad sent congratulations, lambasting "big powers" for their "expansionist" policy. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Credit:AP "The friendly two countries are celebrating this anniversary and, at the same time, conducting a war against big powers' wild ambition to subject all countries to their expansionist and dominationist policy and deprive them of their rights to self-determination," the North's KCNA news agency quoted his message as saying.. US officials said at the weekend the carrier group would take more than a week to reach waters near the Korean peninsula.

A statement from US forces in South Korea on Tuesday said General Vincent Brooks, commander of United States Forces Korea, would not attend a Congressional hearing expected for later this month because of the "security situation on the Korean Peninsula." The statement said the step was not unprecedented. North and South Korea are technically still at war because their 1950-1953 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty. North Korea regularly threatens to destroy South Korea and its main ally, the United States. Russian Worries The North has conducted five nuclear tests, two of them last year, and is working to develop nuclear-tipped missiles that can reach the United States. The Trump administration has been reviewing its policy towards Pyongyang and while it says all options are on the table officials say non-military pressure on Pyongyang with China's help is the preferred path.

Russia's Foreign Ministry, in a statement ahead of a visit by US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, said it was concerned about many aspects of US foreign policy, particularly North Korea. "We are really worried about what Washington has in mind for North Korea after it hinted at the possibility of a unilateral military scenario," the ministry said. "It's important to understand how that would tally with collective obligations on denuclearising the Korean peninsula, something that is underpinned in UN Security Council resolutions." Russia condemned US cruise missile strikes on Syria on Friday, calling them an illegal attack on a sovereign state. China and South Korea agreed on Monday to impose tougher sanctions on North Korea if it carried out nuclear or long-range missile tests, a senior official in Seoul said.

On Tuesday, a fleet of North Korean cargo ships was heading home, most of them fully laden, after China ordered its trading companies to return coal to curb the trade, sources with direct knowledge of the trade said. Loading China banned all imports of North Korean coal, the country's most important export, on February 26, but Washington has questioned how well the sanction was being implemented. with Reuters