US bomber drills over S Korea raise tensions

Two US strategic bombers conducted drills over South Korea, the US Air Force said, raising tensions with North Korea just days before President Donald Trump visits the region seeking to shut down Pyongyang's nuclear program.

News of the Thursday's drills was first reported by North Korean state news agency KCNA yesterday, which said the exercises involving South Korean and Japanese fighter jets were a "surprise nuclear strike drill".

"The reality clearly shows that the gangster-like US imperialists are the very one who is aggravating the situation of the Korean peninsula and seeking to ignite a nuclear war," KCNA said.

Trump arrives in Asia on Sunday, beginning his first trip to the region as president in Japan before heading to South Korea and China, then Vietnam and the Philippines.

A series of missile tests by North Korea and its sixth and largest nuclear test, defying UN Security Council resolutions, have fueled the most critical international challenge of Trump's presidency.

China, under US pressure to do more to rein in its ally, yesterday stressed that it had been enforcing UN resolutions and reiterated its opposition to the use of force.

"Over the long term, China has made unremitting efforts to appropriately resolve the peninsula nuclear issue and promote dialogue and negotiation between all parties," Vice Foreign Minister Zheng Zeguang told reporters at a briefing in Beijing.

"You can say we've made our greatest effort."

The goal of Trump's visit will be to increase international support for efforts to deprive North Korea of resources as leverage to coerce it to give up nuclear weapons, US officials said.