US warns of 'catastrophic consequences' as its aircraft carrier starts drill with South Korean navy
North Korea test-fired a ballistic missile on Saturday shortly after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warned that failure to curb Pyongyang's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes could lead to "catastrophic consequences".
US and South Korean officials said the test, from an area north of the North Korean capital, appeared to have failed, in what would be the North's fourth straight unsuccessful missile test since March.
The test came as the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier group arrived in waters near the Korean peninsula, where it began exercises with the South Korean navy on Saturday, about 12 hours after the failed launch, a South Korean navy official said.
Tillerson, in a UN Security Council meeting on North Korea on Friday, repeated the Trump administration's position that all options were on the table if Pyongyang persisted with its nuclear and missile development.
US President Donald Trump, asked about his message to North Korea after the test, told reporters: "You'll soon find out" but did not elaborate on what the US response would be.
Separately, in excerpts of an interview with CBS News released on Saturday, Trump said the United States and China would "not be happy" with a nuclear test but gave no other details.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told the UN meeting it was not only up to China to solve the North Korean problem.
"The key to solving the nuclear issue on the peninsula does not lie in the hands of the Chinese side," Wang said.
In a commentary on Saturday, China's official Xinhua news agency said both North Korea and the United States needed to tread cautiously.
"If both sides fail to make such necessary concessions, then not only will the two countries, but the whole region and the whole world end up paying a heavy price for a possible confrontation."
Trump, in an interview with Reuters on Thursday, praised Chinese leader Xi Jinping for "trying very hard" on North Korea but warned a "major, major conflict" was possible.
The North has been conducting missile and nuclear weapons related activities at an unprecedented rate and is believed to have made progress in developing intermediate-range and submarine-launched missiles.
Tension on the Korean peninsula has been high for weeks over fears the North may conduct a long-range missile test, or its sixth nuclear test, around the time of the April 15 anniversary of its state founder's birth.
Military drills in the region
The US aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson on Saturday kicked off a joint drill with the South Korean navy, officials said, as tensions rose over North Korea's latest test-fire of a ballistic missile.
"Immediately after the aircraft carrier arrived in the Sea of Japan, South Korea and the US strike forces launched a drill from 6pm Saturday", a defence ministry spokesman told AFP.
The drill came hours after the North launched a ballistic missile in apparent defiance of a concerted US push for tougher international sanctions to curb Pyongyang's nuclear weapons ambitions.
The drill aimed to verify the allies' capability to track and intercept enemy ballistic missiles, the spokesman said.
He declined to clarify how long the drill would last, but Yonhap news agency said it was expected to continue until sometime next week.
The drill will also include a live-fire exercise and anti-submarine maneouvres, the spokesman added.
It would mark the USS Carl Vinson's second operation in South Korean waters in less than two months amid heightened military tensions in Korea. In March, the aircraft carrier carried out annual joint drills.
Earlier this week, the US carrier had joint drills with Japan's naval forces.
North Korea's state media has said the North's military is capable of sinking the aircraft carrier with a single strike.
The latest missile launch, which South Korea said was a failure, came after US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson warned the UN Security Council of "catastrophic consequences" if the international community -- most notably China -- failed to pressure the North into abandoning its weapons programme.
Military options for dealing with the North were still "on the table", Tillerson warned in his first address to the UN body.
The launch ratchets up tensions on the Korean peninsula, with Washington and Pyongyang locked in an ever-tighter spiral of threat, counter-threat and escalating military preparedness.
US President Donald Trump, who has warned of a "major conflict" with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un's regime, said the latest test was a pointed snub to China -- the North's main ally and economic lifeline.
"North Korea disrespected the wishes of China & its highly respected President when it launched, though unsuccessfully, a missile today. Bad!" Trump tweeted.
Everything you need to know about North Korea
