Mattis: If North Korea Fires Missile at US, It's 'Game on'

North Korea would be "crossing a red line" if it put a nuclear warhead on an intercontinental ballistic missile, South Korea's president said on Thursday, but the United States had promised to seek Seoul's approval before taking any military action.

Payne told the local ABC radio station that "Australia has played a small role itself since 2010 and I think we have just over two dozen ADF members participating on this occasion".

"Kim Jong Un of North Korea made a very wise and well reasoned decision", Trump wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in said yesterday there would be no military action without Seoul's consent and his government would prevent war by all means. Pyongyang has threatened to fire missiles towards the Pacific island of Guam and U.S. President Donald Trump has warned it would face "fire and fury" if it threatened the United States.

Kim Jong-un, earlier this week, chose to put the missile attack plans on hold "in order to defuse the tensions" with the United States, adding he wanted to watch how the U.S. behaves a little more before launching the offensive.

"If South Korea really wants no war on the Korean Peninsula, it should try to stop this military exercise. If they do that then it's game on", Mattis said.

The military pact was last invoked by the Australian government following the 9/11 terror attacks by Al Qaeda in the US.

He only mentioned an ICBM as crossing the line, but not short- or mid-range North Korean missiles which are capable of striking targets in South Korea. I said security from whom.

The article bragged that "no one can guess the power" of North Korea's weapons but threatened that as the U.S. "plays more tricks, it will feel the pressure of self destruction".

He is also visiting Japan and China after a week in which Trump declared the US military "locked and loaded" and said he was ready to unleash "fire and fury" if North Korea continued to threaten the United States.

"A honest indication would be the immediate cessation of its provocative threats, nuclear tests, missile launches and other weapons tests", they added.

About 28,500 members of the United States military are stationed in South Korea.

It seems that North Korea is hopeful for direct talks with the United States through the help of the Japanese government.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, earlier this week that the two countries should work together to contain tensions and permit no one to "stir up an incident on their doorstep", according to a statement posted on the Chinese foreign ministry's website.

The North's latest report said Kim ordered his military to be prepared to launch the missiles toward Guam at any time. Kim said if the "planned fire of power demonstration" is carried out because of USA recklessness, it will be "the most delightful historic moment when the Hwasong artillerymen will wring the windpipes of the Yankees and point daggers at their necks".