WASHINGTON (AFP) – US President Donald Trump vowed on Thursday that the “problem” of North Korea “will be taken care of,” as speculation mounted that Pyongyang might be preparing another nuclear or missile test.
“North Korea is a problem, the problem will be taken care of,” Trump told reporters.
Separately on Twitter he expressed confidence China, Pyongyang’s sole ally, would “properly deal with North Korea.” But, “if they are unable to do so, the U.S., with its allies, will! U.S.A.”
The ominous comments came the same day Trump ordered the dropping of the biggest non-nuclear bomb the US military possesses on Afghanistan, targeting a complex used by the Islamic State group.
A US aircraft carrier and its naval strike group has been diverted to the Korean peninsula.
Trump also flexed his military muscle last week by ordering cruise missile strikes on a Syrian airbase the US believed was the origin of an alleged chemical weapons attack on civilians in a northern Syria town.
There are reports of activity at a nuclear test site in North Korea ahead of Saturday’s 105th anniversary of the birth of the country’s founder Kim Il-Sung.
