US warns N Korea against nuke attack

US President Donald Trump's defence secretary yesterday warned North Korea of an "effective and overwhelming" response if it chose to use nuclear weapons, as he reassured South Korea and Japan of steadfast US support.

"Any attack on the United States, or our allies, will be defeated, and any use of nuclear weapons would be met with a response that would be effective and overwhelming," Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said at South Korea's defence ministry, at the end of a two-day visit.

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Mattis' remarks come amid concern that North Korea could be readying to test a new ballistic missile, in what could be an early challenge for Trump's administration.

Mattis later arrived in Japan and said that the US stands "100 percent" with its ally.

"We stand firmly, 100 percent, shoulder-to-shoulder with you and (the) Japanese people," Mattis told Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe after arriving on his first visit since the inauguration of US President Donald Trump.

"I wanted to make certain that Article Five of our mutual defence treaty is understood to be as real to us today as it was a year ago, five years ago and it will be a year and 10 years from now," he added in remarks at the start of their meeting.

Article five of the security treaty commits each country to repel any attacks on each other in Japan or territories it administers.

North Korea, which regularly threatens to destroy South Korea and its main ally, the United States, conducted more than 20 missile tests last year, as well as two nuclear tests, in defiance of UN resolutions and sanctions.

The North also appears to have also restarted operation of a reactor at its main Yongbyon nuclear facility that produces plutonium that can be used for its nuclear weapons program, according to the US think-tank 38 North.

North Korea's actions have prompted the United States and South Korea to respond by bolstering defences, including the expected deployment of a US missile defence system, known as Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), in South Korea later this year.

The two sides reconfirmed that commitment yesterday.

China, however, has objected to THAAD, saying it is a direct threat to China's own security and will do nothing to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table, leading to calls from some South Korean opposition leaders to delay or cancel it.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang reiterated China's opposition, which he said would never change.

South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo said Mattis' visit to Seoul - his first trip abroad as defence secretary - sent a clear message of strong US support.

Once fully developed, a North Korean intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) could threaten the continental United States, which is about 9,000 km (5,500 miles) from North Korea. ICBMs have a minimum range of about 5,500 km (3,400 miles), but some are designed to travel 10,000 km (6,200 miles) or more.

Former U.S. officials and other experts have said the United States essentially has two options when it comes to trying to curb North Korea's fast-expanding nuclear and missile programs - negotiate or take military action.

Neither path offers certain success and the military option is fraught with huge dangers, especially for Japan and South Korea, US allies in close proximity to North Korea.