17 August, 2017
"The government, putting everything on the line, will block war by all means", Moon said in a televised speech on Tuesday to mark the 72nd anniversary of the country's liberation from Japanese occupation.
Defense Secretary James Mattis also warned that if a North Korean missile were to hit the U.S.it would be considered an act of war.
But he has previously said it must halt ballistic missile and nuclear tests for an unspecified amount of time before negotiations can begin on how to halt the stand-off and any threat of USA military action.
"In order to make a nuclear weapon deployable it has to be small and light, but North Korea doesn't seem to have this technology", he said.
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has delayed a decision on firing missiles towards Guam while he waits to see what the United States does, the North's state media reported on Tuesday as the United States said any dialogue was up to Kim.
Mr Trump wrote: "The alternative would have been both catastrophic and unacceptable!"
"Miniaturisation for ballistic missiles is only one of the many challenges of targeting the US with an ICBM", said David Albright, a physicist and founder of the non-profit Institute for Science and International Security in Washington.
The US and South Korean militaries next week are set to start their annual fall exercises, in which they practice responding to a North Korean invasion or the collapse of the regime in Pyongyang.
Moon said the North could spur talks by stopping nuclear and missile tests.
He was elected in May after a decade of conservative rule that saw animosity deepen between the rival Koreas. Moon wants to engage the North. The liquid-fuel missile is created to be fired from road mobile launchers and has been previously described by North Korea as built for attacking Alaska and Hawaii.
Pressed on his "nothing imminent" statement, Pompeo said: "What I'm talking about is, I've heard folks talking about that we have been on the cusp of a nuclear war". "It's time for us to think about introducing nuclear submarines".
Moon said Washington and Seoul are closely communicating over the North Korean nuclear problem and share the view that strong sanctions and pressure are needed against Pyongyang to stop its provocations and force it into negotiations to give up its nukes.
"We also call on North Korea to echo this in response", Hua told a daily news briefing.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said Monday afternoon in Washington that it will be "game on" with North Korea if it hits the United States, including Guam, but he left it much more ambiguous what will happen if Pyongyang decides to shoot missiles near Guam, without attempting to hit the U.S. island territory. North Korea has often threatened to attack the United States and its bases and released similar photos in the past but never followed through.
Pompeo's remarks cap a week in which U.S. President Donald Trump vowed "fire and fury" if North Korea continued to threaten the United States with nuclear weapons, and Pyongyang countered by announcing plans to test-launch missiles toward Guam.
"If we are going to possess nuclear weapons, it will result in undermining the justification for (North Korea's) denuclearization and accelerate nuclear armament (in the region) and we also have to be prepared for worldwide sanctions", Lee said in a TV interview. A miscalculation on either side could lead to military confrontation.
Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said in a phone conversation with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, this week that the two countries should work together to contain tensions and permit no-one to "stir up an incident on their doorstep".
That could refer to the U.S.
"Without worldwide cooperation and co-existence, economic development is impossible", Moon said, urging the North to come to the dialogue table.
Tensions have soared on the peninsula in recent months, with Pyongyang carrying out its first successful tests of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), bringing much of the United States within range.
In his first public appearance in about two weeks, Kim inspected the command of the North's army on Monday, examining a plan to fire four missiles aimed at landing near the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam, the official KCNA news agency reported.
The president also said his threats were not a "dare".
"If he does anything with respect to Guam or any place else that's an American territory or an American ally, he will truly regret it, and he will regret it fast", Trump said of Kim on Friday. "We would like to have talks with him when the time is right, when they show they're serious, serious about an effort to move to denuclearization".
"The current situation on the Korean Peninsula is highly complex and sensitive".
