GETTY Donald Trump has called for a $5.9billion (£4.4billion) increase in military spending

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The Republican firebrand made the addition to the 2018 budget while on his tour of Asia as he transitioned from Japan to South Korea. Over half of the newly requested funds are in reaction to escalated tensions with the rogue nation that Trump has dubbed a “menace”. Over $4billion (£3billion) will be spent on new missile defence and detection systems on the Korean peninsula, $1.2billion (£911million) will be used to fund an additional 3,500 US soldiers in Afghanistan, while $700million (£531million) will be used to repair two Navy ships. The US has already installed a missile defence system dubbed Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) in South Korea.

Commenting on the US defences, Trump said: "We make the best military equipment in the world. "A shot was just taken by Iran, in my opinion, at Saudi Arabia. You know about that, right? You saw the missile that went out? And our system knocked the missile out of the air. “That’s how good we are. Nobody makes what we make, and now we’re selling it all over the world.”

Donald Trump's Asia tour in pictures Mon, November 13, 2017 Donald Trump and Melania Trump embark on a 12-day trip to five different Asian nations which are Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines Play slideshow REUTERS 1 of 100 Thailand's PM Prayut Chan-o-Cha, Vietnam's PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc, U.S. President Trump, Philippine's President Rodrigo Duterte and Singapore's PM Lee Hsien Loong pose for a family photo during the ASEAN-US 40th Anniversary commemorative Summit in Manila

South Korea had previously been involved in a dispute with neighbouring China after the latter stated the THAAD system was a threat to their national security, the issue has since been resolved. The US President’s push for increased military spending comes as he tours Asia with the threats of nuclear annihilation from North Korea at the forefront of his meetings with world leaders. Yesterday, Donald Trump claimed that the “era of strategic patience is over” with North Korea in a joint address with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe. During the speech, the President attacked Kim Jong-un and previous US regimes and emphasised a need for change in order to denuclearise the hermit kingdom.

He said: “We are working to counter the dangerous aggressions of the regime in North Korea. “The regime continues development of its unlawful weapons programmes including its illegal nuclear tests and outrageous launches of ballistic missiles directly over Japanese territory are a threat to the civilised world and international peace and stability. “We will not stand for that, the era of strategic patience is over. “Some people said that my rhetoric is very strong, but look what’s happened with very weak rhetoric over the last 25 years, look where we are right now.”

GETTY Donald Trump claimed that the “era of strategic patience is over” with North Korea

GETTY Trump’s hard-line stance with North Korea was echoed by the Japanese Prime Minister