The US has denied a war declaration against North Korea.
A statement from North Korea on September 25 accuses Washington of declaring war.
The White House also warned North Korea to stop provocations after it said it had the right to shoot down US bombers.
A UN spokesman said fiery talk could lead to fatal misunderstandings.
Meanwhile, South Korea has called for a level-headed response, warning that accidental clashes in the region could quickly spiral out of control.
North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho told reporters on September 25 that “the whole world should clearly remember it was the US who first declared war on our country”.
Ri Yong-ho’s comments were a response to a tweet from President Donald Trump suggesting North Korea would not “be around much longer” if its leaders continued their rhetoric.
On September 24, US warplanes flew close to North Korea’s coast in a show of force.
Speaking as he left New York after the UN General Assembly, Ri Yong-ho said his country had the right to shoot down US warplanes even if they were not in North Korea’s airspace.
On September 25, White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the US had “not declared war against North Korea and frankly the suggestion of that is absurd”.
Pentagon spokesman Col. Robert Manning reacted by saying: “If North Korea does not stop their provocative actions, you know, we will make sure that we provide options to the president to deal with North Korea.”
South Korea – technically at war with North Korea since the 1950s – called for “astuteness and steadfastness” in responding to what it describes as continued provocations by Pyongyang.
Speaking in New York, South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha called for the prevention of any “further escalation of tensions, or any kind of accidental military clashes in the region which can quickly spiral out of control”.
South Korea’s intelligence service said North Korea was readjusting the position of its military aircraft and strengthening its coastal defenses, according to the South’s news agency Yonhap.
Stéphane Dujarric, a spokesman for UN Secretary General António Guterres, said that “fiery talk can lead to fatal misunderstandings” and that “the only solution for this is a political solution”.
China’s ambassador to the UN, Liu Jieyi, told Reuters: “We want things to calm down.
“It’s getting too dangerous and it’s in nobody’s interest.”
Despite weeks of tension, experts have played down the risk of direct conflict.
North Korea has continued to carry out nuclear and ballistic missile tests in recent weeks, in defiance of successive rounds of UN sanctions.
Pyongyang says nuclear capabilities are its only deterrent against an outside world seeking to destroy it.
After North Korea’s latest and most powerful nuclear test earlier this month, the UN Security Council approved new sanctions on the country.
The Pentagon has said that US bombers have flown close to North Korea’s east coast to demonstrate the military options available to defeat any threat.
It said the flight was the farthest north of the demilitarized zone (DMZ) between the two Koreas that any US fighter jet or bomber had flown in the 21st Century.
Tensions have risen recently over North Korea’s nuclear program.
At the UN, North Korea’s foreign minister Ri Yong-ho said President Donald Trump was on a “suicide mission”.
Ri Yong-ho’s comments to the General Assembly mimicked President Trump’s remarks at the UN on September 20, when he called North Korean leader Kim Jong-un a “rocket man on a suicide mission”.
The North Korean foreign minister added that “insults” by President Trump – who was, he said, “mentally deranged and full of megalomania” – were an “irreversible mistake making it inevitable” that North Korean rockets would hit the US mainland.
President Trump, the foreign minister said, would “pay dearly” for his speech, in which he also said he would “totally destroy” North Korea if the US was forced to defend itself or its allies.
Donald Trump responded to the speech on Twitter by saying Ri Yong-ho and Kim Jong-un “won’t be around much longer” if they continue their rhetoric.
Shortly before his address, the Pentagon announced that the show of force underscored “the seriousness” with which the US took North Korea’s “reckless” behavior, calling the country’s weapons program 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,” the Pentagon said in a statement.
“We are prepared to use the full range of military capabilities to defend the US homeland and our allies.”
US Air Force B-1B Lancer bombers from Guam, escorted by Air Force F-15C Eagle fighters from Okinawa, Japan, flew in international airspace, the Pentagon added.
The flight follows a week of heated rhetoric between the leaders of both countries – after President Trump’s comments, Kim Jong-un called him “mentally deranged” and “a dotard”.
Ri Yong-ho did not comment on the Pentagon’s announcement.
North Korea has refused to stop its missile and nuclear tests, despite successive rounds of UN sanctions. The North Korean leaders say nuclear capabilities are its only deterrent against an outside world seeking to destroy it.
After North Korea’s latest and most powerful nuclear test earlier this month, the UN Security Council approved new sanctions on the country.
However, speaking at the UN, Ri Yong-ho repeated that the restrictions would not make the country stop its nuclear development.
Meanwhile, a 3.4-magnitude tremor was detected near North Korea’s nuclear test site on September 23, but experts believe it was a natural earthquake.
The earthquake was recorded at a depth of 0km in North Hamgyong province, home to the Punggye-ri site, South Korea’s meteorological agency said.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) also said it occurred in the nuclear test area, but added that its seismologists assessed it as having a depth of 5km.
South Korea said no specific sound waves generated by artificial earthquakes were detected.
China’s Earthquake Administration said the quake was not a nuclear explosion and had the characteristics of a natural tremor. The agency had initially said it was a “suspected explosion”.
Hyon Yong-Chol has been appointed as North Korea’s new vice-marshal, the official KCNA news agency says.
The move comes a day after the army chief, Ri Yong-Ho, was removed from his post “due to illness”.
The decision was made by the Central Military Commission of the Workers’ Party of Korea and the National Defense Commission of North Korea, KCNA said.
The statement did not say if Hyon Yong-Chol was taking over the top military job from Ri Yong-Ho.
Hyon Yong-Chol has been appointed as North Korea’s new vice-marshal
Little is known of Hyon Yong-Chol, who is reported to be a member of the party’s 120-member central committee. He is now one of four vice-marshals in the army.
Ri Yong-Ho, 69, who was also a vice-marshal, was vice-chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission and held top posts in the ruling Workers’ Party.
Hyon Yong-Chol is believed to have been appointed a general in 2010 but is not currently part of the military commission chaired by young leader Kim Jong-Un, reports said.
He appears to be the latest rising star in North Korean politics.
Ri Yong-Ho’s removal took many North Korea observers by surprise, with widespread skepticism at the official explanation for the move.
He was seen as a key figure in the recent transition of power from Kim Jong-Il, who died in December 2011, to his son.
He was made army chief three years ago under Kim Jong-Il and appeared regularly at state occasions beside the late Kim.
He was also one of seven top officials to accompany the younger Kim as he followed the hearse containing his father’s body at his state funeral.
A spokesman for South Korea’s Unification Ministry told reporters that Ri Yong-Ho’s departure was “very unusual”.
Some analysts say ”illness” is not an uncommon pretext in Pyongyang when a member of the elite leadership is removed.
Now in power for six months, Kim Jong-Un is rumored to be promoting a new generation of officials, and is being carefully watched for signs that he will take the country in a new direction.
North Korean state media has announced that military chief Ri Yong-Ho has been removed from all official posts.
As well as being head of the army, Ri Yong-Ho was vice-chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission and held top posts in the ruling Workers’ Party.
In a short statement, the party said Ri Yong-Ho had been removed from his posts “because of illness”.
However, there is widespread skepticism about that explanation.
The decision to relieve Ri Yong-Ho of his duties came at a meeting of the Workers’ Party Central Committee politburo on Sunday, state-run news agency KCNA said.
The brief report made no mention of a successor.
North Korean military chief Ri Yong-Ho has been removed from all official posts
In Seoul, a spokesman for the Unification Ministry told reporters that the move was “very unusual”.
“It’s quite a rare case that the North promptly and publicly announced early this morning the outcome of a meeting yesterday, on 15 July. We will keep monitoring closely,” Kim Hyung-suk said.
Ri Yong-Ho was made army chief three years ago under Kim Jong-Il, the current leader’s father who died in December 2011 after ruling North Korea for almost two decades.
The army chief regularly appeared at state occasions beside Kim Jong-Il.
He was also one of seven top officials to accompany the younger Kim as he followed the hearse containing his father’s body at his state funeral.
Ri Yong-Ho was widely thought to be a figure in the inner circle of the new leader and instrumental in helping him cement his position.
His removal is now being scrutinized by analysts for signs of the direction in which Kim Jong-Un, seen as young and inexperienced, will take the country.
The army and Workers’ Party are the two primary institutions that bolstered the Kim family dynasty, said Robert Kelly, a professor at the Pusan National University in South Korea.
Kim Jong-Un did not serve in either of those two institutions which are ”traditional proving grounds and grooming grounds… for the leadership in the system”.
”So his position is very vulnerable because he does not know the generals and colonels who prop up the state,” said Dr. Robert Kelly.
In April North Korea defied international warnings to launch a rocket – an action its neighbors called a long-range missile test that contravened UN resolutions.
South Korea also warned earlier this year that Pyongyang appeared to be in the late stages of preparing for a third nuclear test – a claim North Korea has denied.
International talks aimed at ending North Korea’s nuclear ambitions have been stalled since 2009.
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