The ongoing war of words between the United States and North Korea saw several new fiery salvos Saturday, a day on which the US military, in a show of force, flew bombers in international airspace over waters east of North Korea.

The heated remarks also came on a day in which mysterious seismic activity in North Korea refueled concerns over the rogue nation’s nuclear ambitions.

North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho, speaking before the United Nations, angrily responded to US President Donald Trump’s UN remarks in which he referred to Kim Jong Un as “Rocket Man.”

Meanwhile, analysts said that seismic activity detected near the site of North Korea’s Punggye-ri nuclear site might be aftershocks from a nuclear test earlier this month. Seismic activity is often the first indicator of a nuclear test, but the magnitudes Saturday were much smaller than anything declared as a nuclear test in previous years.

At the UN, Ri said that Trump had made a missile attack on the US mainland more inevitable by insulting the dignity of North Korea.

“None other than Trump himself is on a suicide mission,” Ri said in a speech at the UN General Assembly. “In case innocent lives of the US are harmed because of this suicide attack, Trump will be held totally responsible.”

The foreign minister also said the “dangerous reality (is) that the gambler who grew old using threats, frauds and all other schemes to acquire a patch of land holds the nuclear button. These are what constitute the gravest threat to the international peace and security today.”

Ri called Trump a “mentally deranged” person who used “reckless and violent words.”

There was no immediate response from the White House to Ri’s remarks, but there were military manuevers.

The Pentagon said Saturday that B-1B Lancer bombers from Guam and F-15C Eagle fighter escorts from Okinawa, Japan, flew in international airspace over waters east of North Korea.

It’s the farthest north of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that US fighters or bomber aircraft have ever flown this century, the Pentagon said.

The flight underscored “the seriousness with which we take DPRK’s reckless behavior,” the Pentagon said, using an acronym for North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

“This mission is a demonstration of US resolve and a clear message that the President has many military options to defeat any threat,” Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said in a statement.

“North Korea’s weapons program is a grave threat to the Asia-Pacific region and the entire international community. We are prepared to use the full range of military capabilities to defend the US homeland and our allies.”

There has been name-calling and heightened tensions between Washington and Pyongyang this week as the UN met in New York.

In his speech Tuesday Trump threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea if the US was forced to defend itself or an ally. Trump tweeted Friday that Kim was “obviously a madman” who would be “tested like never before.”

“The Secretary-General expressed concern over the tensions on the Korean Peninsula and appealed for de-escalation and full implementation of relevant Security Council resolutions,” a statement from a UN spokesperson said. “The Secretary-General emphasized the need for a political solution.”

Throughout the week Washington and Pyongyang have had strong words for each other.

Earlier this week North Korea’s Ri said his country could test a powerful nuclear weapon over the Pacific Ocean in response to Trump’s threats of military action.

Those remarks came shortly after Kim Jong Un made an unprecedented televised statement, accusing Trump of being “mentally deranged.”

In a rare direct statement, Kim said that Trump would “pay dearly” for the threats, and that North Korea “will consider with seriousness exercising of a corresponding, highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history.”

“I am now thinking hard about what response he could have expected when he allowed such eccentric words to trip off his tongue,” Kim said. “I will surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged US dotard with fire.”

North Korea has been working on developing missiles that can reach the United States and its allies and pair them with a miniaturized nuclear warheads.

To comply with a UN Security Council resolution calling for sanctions over North Korea’s nuclear activity, China said Friday that it will limit its exports of refined petroleum products to Pyongyang as well as ban imports of the North’s textiles.

The Chinese Ministry of Commerce said in a written statement that it will restrict exports of refined petroleum products from October 1, and ban the export of condensate oil and liquefied natural gas immediately.

A ban on textile imports from the North will go into effect immediately, the statement said.

On Thursday, Trump announced new US sanctions to penalize any company or person doing business with North Korea by either cutting off their access to the US financial system or freezing their assets — or potentially both.

Scientists said they believe the seismic activity Saturday could have been caused by North Korea’s sixth test of a nuclear weapon on September 3.

Analysts were working to determine whether the tremors detected near the Punggye-ri nuclear site were natural or man-made.

The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization, a watchdog group that works to end nuclear testing worldwide, said there were two seismic events, neither of very large magnitude.

The larger one had a 3.4 magnitude, the group’s initial assessment found.

“This geographical location is a non-seismically active zone. The September 3 event would’ve weakened the zone, which could still have further repercussions, such as radioisotopes coming through possible subsequent cracks which would allow scientists to assess what type of materials were used,” said Lassina Zerbo, the group’s executive secretary.

The Korea Meteorological Administration also cited the possibility that the seismic activity Saturday occurred because of the geological stress from the nuclear test.

The South Korean agency confirmed there were two earthquakes Saturday.

According to its website, the first quake — with a 2.6 magnitude occurred at 12:43 a.m. ET. A second one took place at 4:29 a.m. ET around the same area.

Park Jong-shin, an analyst for the agency, agreed the latest earthquakes might be aftershocks.

“It is assumed that the earthquakes occurred because of North Korea’s latest nuclear test,” Park said.

The US Geological Survey measured a magnitude 3.5 earthquake 22 kilometers (more than 13 miles) east-northeast of Sungjibaegam, North Korea. The depth at the epicenter was 5 kilometers (3.1 miles).

“We cannot conclusively confirm at this time the nature (natural or human-made) of the event,” the USGS said. </s> Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption What would a war look like?

North Korea's foreign minister has accused US President Donald Trump of declaring war on his country and said Pyongyang had the right to shoot down US bombers.

Ri Yong-ho said this could apply even if the warplanes were not in North Korea's airspace.

The White House dismissed the statement as "absurd". The Pentagon warned Pyongyang to stop provocations.

A UN spokesman said fiery talk could lead to fatal misunderstandings.

Mr Ri's comments were a response to Mr Trump's tweet that the North Korean leadership would not "be around much longer" if they continued their rhetoric.

"The whole world should clearly remember it was the US who first declared war on our country," Mr Ri told reporters as he was leaving New York, where he had addressed the UN General Assembly on Saturday.

"Since the United States declared war on our country, we will have every right to make counter-measures, including the right to shoot down United States strategic bombers even when they are not inside the airspace border of our country."

Mr Trump's tweet followed Mr Ri's fiery speech to the UN on Saturday, when he described the US president as a "mentally deranged person full of megalomania" on a "suicide mission".

Referring to Mr Trump's post, North Korea's minister said "the question of who won't be around much longer" would be answered by his country.

Mr Ri's remarks - not the first time that North Korea has used the phrase "a declaration of war" in relation to the US - are the latest in an increasingly angry war of words between the two countries.

His statement came two days after US warplanes flew close to North Korea's coast in a show of force.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Sarah Sanders: Frankly the suggestion is absurd

Pentagon spokesman Col Robert Manning reacted by saying: "If North Korea does not stop their provocative actions, you know, we will make sure that we provide options to the president to deal with North Korea."

"We want things to calm down," China's ambassador to the UN, Liu Jieyi, told Reuters. "It's getting too dangerous and it's in nobody's interest."

Stéphane Dujarric, a spokesman for UN Secretary General António Guterres, said: "Fiery talk can lead to fatal misunderstandings."

"The only solution for this is a political solution," he added.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Ri Yong-ho says Donald Trump "declared a war on our country"

Despite weeks of tension, experts have played down the risk of direct conflict between the two.

North Korea has continued to carry out nuclear and ballistic missile tests in recent weeks, in defiance of successive rounds of UN sanctions.

The country's leaders say nuclear capabilities are its only deterrent against an outside world seeking to destroy it.

After the North's latest and most powerful nuclear test earlier this month, the UN Security Council approved new sanctions on the country.

Actions not words

By Jonathan Marcus, BBC News diplomatic correspondent

The rhetoric on both sides may have got out of hand already but the real question is what practical consequences might ensue from the war of words between Washington and Pyongyang?

It should be remembered that the Korean peninsula is not at peace - the Korean conflict of the 1950s was only brought to a halt by an armistice, not a peace treaty.

But it is actions that are likely to provoke renewed fighting, not just words.

The latest North Korean threat to shoot down US warplanes comes in the wake of a recent US patrol that took its B1-B Lancer bombers and their accompanying F-15 fighter escorts over waters to the east of North Korea - the furthest north US warplanes have flown for several months, albeit still outside Pyongyang's airspace.

The US believes it has every right to do this but if one day Pyongyang judges that these aircraft are on an offensive mission - what then? </s> Washington: The US military, in a show of force, flew bombers in international airspace over waters east of North Korea, the Pentagon announced.

The Pentagon said Saturday that B-1B Lancer bombers from Guam and F-15C Eagle fighter escorts from Okinawa, Japan, flew in international airspace over waters east of North Korea, reports CNN.

It WAS the farthest north of the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) that US fighters or bomber aircraft have ever flown this century.

The flight underscored "the seriousness with which we take North Korea`s reckless behaviour," the Pentagon said.

"This mission is a demonstration of US resolve and a clear message that the President has many military options to defeat any threat.

"North Korea`s weapons programme is a grave threat to the Asia-Pacific region and the entire international community. We are prepared to use the full range of military capabilities to defend the US homeland and our allies," Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said in a statement.

There has been name-calling and heightened tensions between Washington and Pyongyang this week as the UN met in New York, CNN reported.

At the UN, North Korea`s Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho said US President Donald Trump was on a "suicide mission".

Ri`s comments to the General Assembly mimicked Trump`s remarks at the UN on Tuesday, when he called North Korean leader Kim Jong-un a "rocket man on a suicide mission".

Earlier this week, Ri had also said that his country could test a powerful nuclear weapon over the Pacific Ocean in response to Trump`s threats of military action.

The minister`s remarks came shortly after Kim made an unprecedented televised statement, accusing Trump of being "mentally deranged".

Meanwhile, a shallow 3.4-magnitude tremor was detected near North Korea`s nuclear test site on Saturday morning, but experts believe it was a natural earthquake. </s> The US has flown nuclear-capable B-1B Lancer bombers escorted by F-15 fighters off North Korea's coast venturing the "farthest north of the Demilitarized Zone," separating the two Koreas, in the 21st century, the Pentagon's spokesperson said."This is the farthest north of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) any U.S. fighter or bomber aircraft have flown off North Korea's coast in the 21st century, underscoring the seriousness with which we take (North Korea's) reckless behavior," said Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White.The DMZ is a strip of land running across the Korean Peninsula near the 38th Parallel, separating North Korea from South Korea. It was created in 1953, following the armistice which ended the Korean War."This mission is a demonstration of US resolve and a clear message that the President has many military options to defeat any threat. North Korea's weapons program is a grave threat to the Asia-Pacific region and the entire international community. We are prepared to use the full range of military capabilities to defend the US homeland and our allies," the spokeswoman added. </s> The threat comes just hours after US President Donald Trump warned Pyongyang that if they continued to threaten the US, they would "face fire and fury like the world has never seen."

Dubbed the "Tip of the Spear," Guam is a key to the US military's forward deployed presence in the Pacific and is home to thousands of American service members and their families.

The statement from a spokesman from the Strategic Force of the Korean People's Army, warned that recent US military maneuvers —including an intercontinental ballistic missile test last week and a bomber flight on Monday -- "may provoke a dangerous conflict."

Specifically, the statement mentioned a potential strike on "Anderson Air Force Base in which the US strategic bombers, which get on the nerves of the DPRK and threaten and blackmail it through their frequent visits to the sky above south Korea, are stationed and to send a serious warning signal to the US."

The US flew two B1B bombers over the Korean peninsula on Monday, according to a spokesman with Pacific Air Forces. The bombers flew out of Anderson AFB in Guam on Monday as part of its "continuous bomber presence", according to the spokesman. The bombers were joined by Japanese and South Korean aircraft. The North Korean statement on Guam references this action. This was before Trump's warning to North Korea on Tuesday. </s> North Korea’s foreign minister escalated tensions with the United States on Monday, saying that President Trump’s threatening comments about the country and its leadership were “a declaration of war” and that North Korea had the right to shoot down American warplanes, even if they are not in North Korean air space.

“The whole world should clearly remember it was the U.S. who first declared war on our country,” the foreign minister, Ri Yong-ho, told reporters as he was leaving the United Nations after a week of General Assembly meetings in New York.

“Since the United States declared war on our country, we will have every right to make countermeasures, including the right to shoot down United States strategic bombers even when they are not inside the airspace border of our country.”

Referring to Mr. Trump’s assertion that the North Korean leadership may not “be around much longer,” Mr. Ri said that the question of “who would be around much longer will be answered” by North Korea.

Mr. Ri, speaking two days after American warplanes flew close to the North’s coast, added that “in light of the declaration of war by Trump, all options will be on the operations table of the supreme leadership” of North Korea.

North Korea had already deemed Mr. Trump’s threat at the United Nations — to “totally destroy” North Korea if the United States were forced to defend itself or its allies — a declaration of war. </s> PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — North Korea is vowing tough counteraction to any military moves that might follow the U.S. Navy’s decision to send the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier and its battle group to waters off the Korean Peninsula.

The statement from Pyongyang comes as tensions on the divided peninsula are already high because of U.S.-South Korea wargames now underway and recent ballistic missile tests by the North. Pyongyang sees the annual maneuvers as a dress rehearsal for invasion, while the North’s long-range missile launches are a violation of U.N. resolutions.

“We will hold the U.S. wholly accountable for the catastrophic consequences to be entailed by its outrageous actions,” a spokesman for its Foreign Ministry was quoted as saying by the state-run Korean Central News Agency in a report late Monday. </s> U.S. Air Force B-1B bombers and F-15 jets, flying in international waters, carried out a show of force Saturday off the coast of North Korea aimed at countering what the Pentagon called Pyongyang's "reckless behavior."

The Pentagon said the operation was taking place at the farthest point north of the Demilitarized Zone, which separates North and South Korea, that any U.S. fighter or bomber aircraft has flown this century.

Pentagon spokesperson Dana White said the operation was aimed at "underscoring the seriousness with which we take (North Korea's) reckless behavior."

"This mission is a demonstration of U.S. resolve and a clear message that the President has many military options to defeat any threat," White said. "North Korea’s weapons program is a grave threat to the Asia-Pacific region and the entire international community. We are prepared to use the full range of military capabilities to defend the U.S. homeland and our allies."

The display of military might comes as tensions between Pyongyang and Washington are mounting, most recently with North Korea’s foreign minister blasting President Trump in a speech Saturday at the United Nations.



 Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho called Trump “a mentally deranged person full of megalomania” who is holding “the nuclear button.”

He said Trump’s personal insults against North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, make "our rocket’s visit to the entire U.S. mainland inevitable all the more."

In a speech this week before the U.N., Trump warned North Korea that it could face potential obliteration and mocked the North’s young leader as a “Rocket Man” on a “suicide mission.”

North Korea has said it intends to build a missile capable of striking all parts of the United States with a nuclear bomb and has underscored its rhetoric with periodic missile and nuclear tests.

Foreign minister Yong-ho even warned on Friday that Pyongyang may test a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean.

The B-1B Lancers, deployed at Ellsworth Air Force Base in South Dakota, took off from Andersen Air Force Base, in Guam, the Pentagon said. The bombers were joined by U.S. Air Force F-15C Eagle fighter escorts from Okinawa, Japan.

The Department of Defense did not specify the exact number of aircraft used in the operation.

The Pentagon emphasized that no Japanese or South Korean fighters were involved in the operation. </s> The Pentagon said the mission in international airspace showed how seriously Trump takes N Korea's ‘reckless behavior.’ (Representational Image | AFP)

Washington: In a show of American military might to North Korea, US bombers and fighter escorts flew to the farthest point north of the border between North and South Korea by any such American aircraft this century. The Pentagon said the mission in international airspace showed how seriously President Donald Trump takes North Korea's "reckless behavior."

"This mission is a demonstration of US resolve and a clear message that the president has many military options to defeat any threat," Defense Department spokesman Dana White said in a statement.

"North Korea's weapons program is a grave threat to the Asia-Pacific region and the entire international community. We are prepared to use the full range of military capabilities to defend the US homeland and our allies," White said.

North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, has said Trump would "pay dearly" for threatening to "totally destroy" North Korea if the US was forced to defend itself or its allies against a North Korean attack. Kim's foreign minister told reporters this past week that the North's response to Trump "could be the most powerful detonation of an H-bomb in the Pacific."

North Korea has said it intends to build a missile capable of striking all parts of the United States with a nuclear bomb. Trump has said he won't allow it, although the US so far has not used military force to impede the North's progress.

The Pentagon said B-1B bombers from Guam, along with F-15C Eagle fighter escorts from Okinawa, Japan, flew in international airspace over waters east of North Korea on Saturday. The US characterized the flights as extending farther north of the Demilitarized Zone, than any US fighter or bomber had gone off the North Korean coast in the 21st century.

B-1 bombers are no longer part of the US nuclear force, but they are capable of dropping large numbers of conventional bombs.

US Pacific Command would not be more specific about many years it had been since US bombers and fighters had flown that far north of the DMZ, but a spokesman, Navy Cmdr. Dave Benham, noted that this century "encompasses the period North Korea has been testing ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons."

At the United Nations, North Korea's foreign minister, Ri Yong Ho, said Saturday that his country's nuclear force is "to all intents and purposes, a war deterrent for putting an end to nuclear threat of the US and for preventing its military invasion, and our ultimate goal is to establish the balance of power with the US"

He also said that Trump's depiction of Kim as "Rocket Man" makes "our rocket's visit to the entire US mainland inevitable all the more."

Trump on Friday had renewed his rhetorical offensive against Kim.

"Kim Jong Un of North Korea, who is obviously a madman who doesn't mind starving or killing his people, will be tested like never before!" the president tweeted.

Trump continued the heated exchange with the North Koreans Saturday night.

He tweeted, "Just heard Foreign Minister of North Korea speak at UN If he echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man, they won't be around much longer!"

On Thursday, Trump announced more economic sanctions against the impoverished and isolated country, targeting foreign companies that deal with the North.

"North Korea's nuclear weapons and missile development is a grave threat to peace and security in our world and it is unacceptable that others financially support this criminal, rogue regime," Trump said as he joined Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and South Korean President Moon Jae-in for a meeting in New York.

Hours later, Kim responded by saying Trump was "deranged."

In a speech last week at the United Nations, Trump had issued the warning of potential obliteration and mocked the North's young autocrat as a "Rocket Man" on a "suicide mission."

Trump's executive order expanded the Treasury Department's ability to target anyone conducting significant trade in goods, services or technology with North Korea, and to ban them from interacting with the US financial system.

Trump also said China was imposing major banking sanctions, too, but there was no immediate confirmation from the North's most important trading partner.

If enforced, the Chinese action Trump described could severely impede the isolated North's ability to raise money for its missile and nuclear development. China, responsible for about 90 percent of North Korea's trade, serves as the country's conduit to the international banking system.
North Korea says that the recent flight of U.S. aircraft off the coast of North Korea amounts to a declaration of war.