US, North Korea Ready For ‘All-out War’

North Korea has threatened to carry out missile tests on weekly basis amid rising military tensions and will resort to an ‘all-out war’ if the US uses military means to threaten Pyongyang.

“We’ll be conducting more missile tests on a weekly, monthly and yearly basis,” North Korean Vice Foreign Minister Han Song-Ryol was quoted as saying to BBC Tuesday.

"If we notice any sign of assault on our sovereignty, our army will launch merciless military strikes against the US aggressors, wherever they may exist, from the remote US lands to the American military bases on the Korean Peninsula, such as those of Japan and elsewhere," Ryol said.

The US Vice President Mike Pence on Monday said “all options are on the table” for dealing with the rogue nation and would not wait for China and deal with the threat on its own if necessary.

“The US, which stations 28,500 troops in South Korea, would “defeat any attack and we will meet any use of conventional or nuclear weapons with an overwhelming and effective response,” Pence said.

A former official in the Bush administration, who is privy to the Pentagon battle plans was quoted by News.com.au web portal as saying that the US President Donald Trump is pushing China hard but if need be, the US will have to take a strong step themselves.

“There are plans to destroy the missile sites and the military have strong confidence in what they know. They wouldn’t launch a pre-emptive strike if there is an underground nuclear explosion but they would if the president thought they were launching an intercontinental ballistic missile.”

Tensions have reached boiling point in the region after an armada of US warships arrived in Korea waters including aircraft carrier the USS Carl Vinson. The US strike could include missiles and bombs, cyber and special operations on the ground.

The US air force’s chief of staff General David Goldfein posted a picture of the US warplanes along with the caption: “Fight’s on!”

"[North Korea] is on a path to achieving nuclear weapons capability and we believe Kim Jong-un has a clear ambition to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of carrying a nuclear payload as far as the US," Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop was quoted as saying by ABC news portal Tuesday.

"That would mean Australia would be in reach so unless it is prevented from doing so, it will be a serious threat to the peace and stability of our region, and that is unacceptable."

The danger of such an attack by the US is that it could provoke the volatile and unpredictable North Korean regime to launch its own blistering attack on its southern neighbor.

"The leadership in North Korea has shown absolutely no sign or interest in diplomacy or dialogue with any of the countries involved in this issue," Victor Cha, the Korea Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies was quoted as saying by NBC News last Thursday.