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The source close to Donald Trump, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, warned a failure to properly confront the nuclear threat posed by the hermit state will have dire consequences.

It comes as the stand-off between the US President and Supreme Leader Kim shows no signs of ending.

Trump has threatened to “totally destroy” the North following repeated threats and missile tests.

Just weeks ago, Kim sanctioned the test of its biggest weapon to date – a hugely-powerful Hydrogen Bomb.

North Korea has also warned it will rain nuclear missiles down on the US mainland, as well as attack allies such as Japan and South Korea.

(Image: GETTY)

**US, Japan, S. Korea stage MISSILE DRILLS on Korean Peninsula**

Today, a US official urged China to do more to help reach a peaceful end to the crisis, saying: “We would like to see China follow through on those commitments.

“We would like to see China do things bilaterally as well that might even go beyond things that are mandated by those UN Security Council resolutions.”

Last month, the UN placed a raft of new sanctions on North Korea designed to strangle the country’s economy.

It is hoped the measures will eventually force Kim to abandon his nuclear programme.

But tensions on the Korean Peninsula continue to ratchet up.

Hours ago, Japan’s Defence Minister, Itsunori Onodera, said the world is literally on the brink of war.

Speaking alongside US officials at a meeting of Asian defence chiefs, he said: “[The] threat posed by North Korea has grown to the unprecedented, critical and imminent level.

“Therefore, we have to take calibrated and different responses to meet with that level of threat.”

Shortly after the Japanese minister's comments, Kim Jong-un accused the country of planning to invade North Korea.

An article in state propaganda – the regime's mouthpiece – stated: "They wanted to pave the groundwork for re-invasion of the Korean peninsula in order to realise the old dream of the ‘Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere’.

"Now that it is crystal clear to all that Japan is pushing ahead with the re-invasion preparations in the final stage with the backing of the US, the DPRK has the right to take a tough countermeasure for self-defence.