Military action against Pyongyang not inevitable, says US President Donald Trump

Washington : US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that military action against North Korea was not inevitable. "Military action would certainly be an option. Is it inevitable? Nothing is inevitable," said Trump here during his joint press conference with visiting Kuwaiti Amir Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah.

Trump also warned that while he would prefer "not going the route of the military", military action against Pyongyang was something that "certainly could happen".

One day before his remarks, Trump told reporters on his way to Bismarck, North Dakota that military action against Pyongyang was "not a first choice". Pyongyang on Sunday detonated a hydrogen bomb that can be carried by an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), North Korea's Central Television announced.

Pyongyang's nuclear testing and launches using ballistic missile technology violated United Nations Security Council resolutions.

China's permanent representative to the UN Liu Jieyi on Monday condemned the latest nuclear test by Pyongyang and urged the country to return to the track of dialogue. China will not allow chaos and war on the Korean Peninsula, he said.

Liu said the suspension-for-suspension proposal and dual-track approach put forward by China together with the Russian proposal of a step-by-step approach is a realistic and feasible roadmap for the settlement of the issue, asking the relevant parties for due consideration and positive responses.

The idea of a dual approach involves parallel efforts to move forward both de-nuclearisation and the establishment of a peaceful mechanism on the peninsula. The initiative of suspension-for-suspension calls for Pyongyang to suspend its nuclear and missile activities and for the United States and South Korea to suspend their large-scale war games.