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US bombers stage North Korea show of force | US bombers stage North Korea show of force |
(35 minutes later) | |
US bombers have flown close to North Korea's east coast to demonstrate the military options available to defeat any threat, the Pentagon says. | US bombers have flown close to North Korea's east coast to demonstrate the military options available to defeat any threat, the Pentagon says. |
It said the flight was the farthest north of the demilitarised zone between the Koreas that any US fighter jet or bomber had flown in the 21st Century. | |
Tensions have risen recently over Pyongyang's nuclear programme. | |
At the UN, North Korea's foreign minister said US President Donald Trump was on a "suicide mission". | |
Ri Yong-ho's comments to the General Assembly mimicked Mr Trump's remarks at the UN on Tuesday, when he called North Korean leader Kim Jong-un a "rocket man on suicide mission". | |
Mr Ri added that "insults" by Mr Trump - who was, he aid, "mentally deranged and full of megalomania" - were an "irreversible mistake making it inevitable" that North Korean rockets would hit the US mainland. | |
Shortly before his address, the Pentagon announced that the show of force underscored "the seriousness" with which the US took North Korea's "reckless" behaviour, calling the country's weapons programme a "grave threat". | |
"This mission is a demonstration of US resolve and a clear message that the president has many military options to defeat any threat," it said in a statement. | |
"We are prepared to use the full range of military capabilities to defend the US homeland and our allies." | |
The flight follows a week of heated rhetoric between the leaders of both countries. | |
In other developments: |