KIM Jong-un and Donald Trump are inching closer to World War Three as tensions over North Korea’s nuclear programme continue to grow. Here are live updates on the US-North Korea conflict with all of the latest news.
North Korea continues to ramp up tensions with the US, with Kim Jong-un threatening to conduct a sixth nuclear weapons test.
Donald Trump has warned that military action is a possibility, and has agreed to work with Russian President Vladimir Putin to solve the “very dangerous” situation.
The US president has already moved an anti-missile system, submarines and aircraft carriers into South Korea in a major show of military might.
Kim Jong-un has broken ties with his sole ally China, warning Beijing of “grave consequences” if it sides with the US.
With no clear solution to the conflict in sight and fears that nuclear war could be imminent, here are the latest updates live 24/7.
Thursday May 4
9pm BST: Kim isn’t messing around. He has just promised North Korea will bring about “the fall of the American empire” – whatever that is exactly.
The ‘Supreme Leader’ also said he would reduce Japan to “ashes” and turn South Korea to a “sea of fire” if his wishes weren’t obeyed, in the latest round in an ever-tightening spiral of threat and counter-threat with Donald Trump.
8pm BST: North Korea has issued as stark warning to the US, promising to deliver “the fall of the American people”.
Kim Jong-un directly threatened America by saying he would force the country to “collapse” if it continued its operations in the region.
The communist regime leader further said he would reduce Japan to “ashes” and turn South Korea to “a see of fire”.
The chilling threats were made public in North Korea’s state run propaganda newspaper.
“The reckless nuclear war provocation by the Trump administration will bring it nothing but the fall of the American empire,” the paper said.
5.20pm BST: North Korean state media have warned today that China was stepping over a “red line” in its relations with the US.
The unprecedented criticism was voiced in a commentary in the state-run newspaper Rodong Sinmun.
It accused Beijing of “dancing to the tune of the US” and giving Washington excuses to deploy more troops to the region.
“We didn’t cross the ‘red line’ of the (North Korea)-China relationship,” the commentary said. “China is violently stomping on and crossing it without hesitation.”
3.00pm BST: Japan would be the first to suffer if it backed US military action against the hermit state, North Korean officials have warned.
State-run newspaper Rodong Sinmun reminded Tokyo of its previous experience involving nuclear weapons.
And the report stated the country would become the number one target for a North Korean strike as it housed US forces and would be “put under radioactive clouds before any country”.
The newspaper said on Wednesday: “In case of a nuclear war on the peninsula, Japan that houses logistic bases, launching bases and sortie bases of the US forces will be put under radioactive clouds before any country.
“If Japan is truly concerned about its interests, it has to make due efforts for the peaceful settlement of the Korean peninsula issue.
“As the first country in the world that suffered A-bomb disaster, Japan knows better than others how terrible the nuclear disaster is.”
1.00pm BST: A North Korean defector has praised Donald Trump for his tough stance on Kim Jong-un’s regime .
Hyeon-seo Lee, the author of The Girl with Seven Names, said she was reduced to tears when she first heard the American President speak out against North Korea.
She told Fox News: “Not any president said those words until today – even though we’ve been suffering for seven decades.”
11.30am BST: North Korea has warned China of “grave consequences” to come if Beijing cuts relations with Pyonyang.
A statement was published in Kim’s mouthpiece Korean Central News Agency, which said: “The DPRK will never beg for the maintenance of friendship with China, risking its nuclear program which is as precious as its own life, no matter how valuable the friendship is.
“China should no longer try to test the limits of the DPRK’s patience…..(and) had better ponder over the grave consequences to be entailed by its reckless act of chopping down the pillar of the DPRK-China relations.”
The hard-hitting statement marks the first time that North Korea has openly threatened its neighbour in the same manner that it so regularly attacks the US, South Korea and other so-called enemies.
China is North Korea’s sole remaining diplomatic ally and trading partner, but relations have broken down in recent weeks after China banned all imports of North Korean coal following UN sanctions.
China has said that it still wants to be good neighbours with North Korea in the wake of the criticism.
In Beijing, Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang said “China position on developing friendly, good-neighbourly relations with North Korea is also consistent and clear.”
5.30am BST: A Top US Senator has told Donald Trump not to speak with North Korean tyrant Kim Jong-un until the dictator scraps his prized nuclear programme.
Colorado senator Cory Gardner branded Kim a “maniac” and a “whack-job” as he lashed out at the President following remarks made earlier this week.
President Trump stunned the world after he said he would be “willing” and “honoured” to meet the ruthless despot amid simmering tensions around US Navy manoeuvres near the Korean peninsula and threats from of nuclear annihilation from Pyongyang.
But Mr Gardner took a harder line, telling a US television station: “I think most people agree that Kim Jong-un is a whack job.