The United States military has staged bombing drills along with South Korea over the Korean peninsula, as Russia and China carried out naval exercises ahead of Tuesday's meeting at the UN General Assembly where the issue of North Korea is likely to loom large.

Key points: US fighter jets flew over the Korean peninsula from Guam and Japan

US fighter jets flew over the Korean peninsula from Guam and Japan China and Russia have repeatedly called for a peaceful solution to tensions

China and Russia have repeatedly called for a peaceful solution to tensions James Mattis hints at military responses to North Korea

The flurry of military drills came after Pyongyang fired another mid-range ballistic missile over Japan on Friday and conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test on September 3 in defiance of United Nations sanctions and other international pressure.

On Monday, a pair of US B-1B bombers and four F-35 jets flew from Guam and Japan and joined four South Korean F-15K fighters in the latest drill, the South Korean Defence Ministry said.

Defence Minister Song Young-moo told a parliamentary hearing the joint drills would be conducted "two to three times a month" given the rising tensions.

Fighter jets dropped bombs over the peninsula during joint drills. ( Facebook: US Pacific Command )

Speaking in Washington, US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis hinted military responses to North Korea that could spare Seoul from a brutal counter-attack were being considered.

Asked if there were any military options, Mr Mattis said: "Yes there are. But I will not go into details."

Meanwhile in Beijing, the official Xinhua news agency said China and Russia had begun naval drills off the Russian far eastern port of Vladivostok, not far from the Russia-North Korea border.

Those drills were being conducted between Peter the Great Bay, near Vladivostok, and the southern part of the Sea of Okhotsk, to the north of Japan, it said.

The drills are the second part of China-Russian naval exercises this year, the first part of which was staged in the Baltic in July. Xinhua did not directly link the drills to current tension over North Korea.

Both China and Russia have repeatedly called for a peaceful solution and talks to resolve the issue.

Trump's 'fire and fury' statement 'not an empty threat'

Sorry, this video has expired North Korea has launched a series of missiles in recent months

On Sunday, US ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said the UN Security Council had "pretty much exhausted" all its options on containing North Korea's nuclear program and that the US might have to turn the matter over to the Pentagon.

In response, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the most pressing task was for all parties to enforce the latest UN resolutions on North Korea fully, rather than "deliberately complicating the issue".

Military threats from various parties have not promoted a resolution to the issue, he said.

"This is not beneficial to a final resolution to the peninsula nuclear issue," Mr Lu told a daily news briefing.

US President Donald Trump has vowed that North Korea will never be able to threaten the US with a nuclear-tipped ballistic missile.

Asked about Mr Trump's warning last month that the North Korean threat to the United States would be met with "fire and fury", Ms Haley said that "it was not an empty threat".

Despite the heated rhetoric, there has been no positioning of US military assets to suggest a military conflict is imminent.

Diplomacy won't work with North Korea, Japan PM says

US and South Korean fighter jets drop bombs over the Korean peninsula during joint drills. ( Facebook: US Pacific Command )

Last week, the UN Security Council unanimously passed a US-drafted resolution a week ago mandating tougher new sanctions against Pyongyang that included banning textile imports and capping crude and petrol supply.

On Monday, North Korea called the resolution "the most vicious, unethical and inhumane act of hostility to physically exterminate" its people, system and government.

But in an editorial published in the New York Times, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said the international community must remain united and enforce sanctions against North Korea.

Mr Abe said recent missile tests were in violation of UN Security Council resolutions and showed North Korea could now target the United States or Europe.

"Pyongyang would see more talks as proof that other countries succumbed to the success of its missile launches and nuclear tests," he wrote.

"Now is the time to exert the utmost pressure on the North. There should be no more delays."

Diplomacy and dialogue would not work with North Korea, and concerted pressure by the entire international community was essential to tackle the threats posed by North Korea, Mr Abe wrote.

Sorry, this video has expired North Korea's latest missile test has Japan worried

Reuters