US dismisses North Korea's claim it has 'declared war' as absurd

The White House has dismissed North Korea's claim that US President Donald Trump has "declared war" on the country.

The North's foreign minister Ri Yong Ho said North Korea could target US bombers and military jets, even outside of its airspace.

He said: "The question of who won't be around much longer will be answered then."

That was a reference to Mr Trump's recent indication on Twitter that the minister, and leader Kim Jong-un "won't be around much longer".

Speaking outside a hotel in New York, Mr Ri said: "Trump claimed our leadership would not be around much longer. He declared a war on our country.

"All the member states (of the United Nations) and the whole world should clearly remember it was the United States that first declared war on our country.

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

White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders denied the United States had declared war, calling the suggestion "absurd".

The latest rhetoric came after North Korean state media released a video depicting the destruction of US aircraft and warships.

That 99-second clip was released on Sunday hours after two US Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers flew off the coast of North Korea in a show of force.

The bombers flew further north of the Demilitarised Zone that divides the Korean Peninsula than any US military aircraft in the 21st Century.

In the days after the flight, North Korea has been moving airplanes and boosting defences on its east coast, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported on Tuesday.

China's UN Ambassador Liu Jieyi voiced alarm at the escalating rhetoric between North Korea and the United States.

"We want things to calm down. It's getting too dangerous and it's in nobody's interest,"  he told Reuters.

"We certainly hope that they will see that there is no other way than negotiations to solve the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula 

"The alternative is a disaster." 

South Korea later urged the United States to help dial down tensions with the North.

"It is very likely that North Korea will conduct further provocations," South Korean foreign minister Kang Kyung-wha said in a speech in Washington.

"It is imperative that we, Korea and the US together, manage the situation... in order to prevent further escalation of tensions or any kind of accidental military clashes which can quickly go out of control."

The latest round of heavy verbal salvoes began when Mr Trump threatened in his maiden UN address last Tuesday to "totally destroy" North Korea, a country of 26 million people, if it threatened the United States or its allies.

In an unprecedented direct statement on Friday, Mr Kim called the US president a "mentally deranged U.S. dotard" he would tame with fire.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, speaking to Prime Minister Theresa May by telephone, said he hoped Britain could play a constructive role in achieving a peaceful solution via talks, Chinese state media said.

Defence experts said North Korea would have difficulty shooting down a US bomber with missiles or fighter planes given its limited capabilities, and if it tried and failed, would appear weak.

"It is unlikely to take such a risk," said Bruce Bennett of the Rand Corp think tank. "So this sounds like another attempt by North Korea to 'deter by bluster' US actions the regime does not like."