North Korea news LIVE: Kim Jong-un threatens Trump with H-bomb – World War 3 fears latest

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Here are live updates and the latest news on North Korea and the US. All times BST.

12.43pm: Leading nuclear proliferation watchdog reports seismic events in North Korea

Nuclear proliferation watchdog CTBTO confirmed today that it recorded two “seismic events” in North Korea.

"Two Seismic Events! 0829UTC & much smaller @ 0443UTC unlikely Man-made! Similar to ‘collapse’ event 8.5 mins after DPRK6! Analysis ongoing," CTBTO Executive Secretary Lassina Zerbo said in

a Twitter post.

The tremors were initially a “suspected explosion”, but according to CTBTO, the quakes were probably not deliberate blasts. 

11.30am: Tremors in North Korea spark fears of a new nuclear test

The South Korean meteorological agency picked up an  earthquake was picked up in Kilju area of the North Hamgyong province in north Korea.

The tremors were measured 3.4 on the Richter scale, sparking concerns that they were caused by an explosion and not an earthquake.

Previous quakes reported in North Korea have been attributed to nuclear tests, South Korea’s meteorological agency believes it could be a natural earthquake this time.

1am: US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says Donald Trump will take 'appropriate actions' if North Korea launches a missile into the Pacific

Mr Tillerson, said: "We will continue our efforts in the diplomatic arena, but all of our military options is on the table.

"And once we can assess the nature of this threat, the President will make a decision regarding the appropriate actions."

7.17pm: North Korea thinks Donald Trump is 'weak', claims expert

Kim Jong-un made it clear in a state news agency broadcast that he was considering the "highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history" against the US.

The dictator warned: "I will surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged US dotard with fire."

Jeffrey Lewis, Director of the East Asia Nonproliferation Program, thinks this could be a sign Kim Jong-un thinks he has Mr Trump on the ropes.

The North Korea expert told Express.co.uk: "I think the most important part of the statement is the one about the frightened dog barking loudest.

"This was the same view that the Chinese had – that the US makes so many nuclear threats because Americans are afraid of nuclear weapons. 

"I think Trump's reactions are being read by the North Koreans as weakness and indecision."

6.43pm: There is no 'magic fix for North Korea' claims expert

Joe Cirincione, president of the Ploughshares Fund, thinks that Pyongyang needs to be hit with more sanctions, but ultimately there is no "magic fix" for the problem.

"We clearly need more sanctions. It's good to have more sanctions. But we've been sanctioning Korea for years now. There's no magic fix here," Mr Cirincione told ABC News.

"In the end you can't sanction North Korea into collapse or compliance. You're going to need a negotiated solution."

The expert underlined that the hermit regime will not surrender its weapons, based on what happened in precious US conflicts. 

"They look at Iraq, they look at Libya, and the lesson they draw is that if you give up your weapons America is going to kill you,” he said. “That’s not irrational. That’s realist.”

12.55pm: Rex Tillerson confirms commitment to North Korean diplomacy

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has acknowledged the hardships of pursuing diplomatic talks with North Korea, but confirmed that the efforts will continue.

"We are quite challenged but our diplomatic efforts continue unabated," Tillerson said in an interview with ABC.

"We have put in place the strongest economic sanctions ever to have been assembled against Kim Jong-un.

"So he is being tested with the sanctions, voices from every corner of the world."

12:40pm: North Korea aims to test hydrogen missiles, expert claims

The North Korean regime could be among to fire a nuclear-tipped missile over the Pacific Ocean in response to Donald Trump's threats at the UN.

Pyongyang's Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho has suggested that Kim Jong-un was considering the possibility of testing "an unprecedented scale hydrogen bomb".

"It may mean North Korea will fire a warhead-tipped (intermediate range) Hwasong-12 or Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile and blow it up a few hundred kilometres above the Pacific

Ocean," said Yang Uk, a senior researcher at the Korea Defence and Security Forum in Seoul.

"They may be bluffing, but there is a need for them to test their combined missile-bomb capability. They could have already prepared the plan and are now trying to use Trump's remarks as an

excuse to make it happen," the expert said.

12.30pm: Sebastian Kettley takes over live reporting from Reiss Smith

Moscow is deeply concerned by the escalation of tension on the Korean peninsula caused by the continued war of words between the United States and North Korea, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry

Peskov has said.

“Moscow is convinced that there is no alternative to a political and diplomatic settlement of the North Korean problem," he told a conference call with reporters.

He said the situation was being further aggravated by “the swapping of silly statements full of threats”.

China has called on the US and North Korea to exercise restraint amid an unprecedented war of words between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang also told a daily news briefing in Beijing that China opposes unilateral sanctions outside the United Nations framework.

His comments came after US President Donald Trump ordered new sanctions against North Korea on Thursday over its nuclear and missile programmes.

6am: North Korea warns it could drop H-bomb over Pacific Ocean

North Korea could launch a nuclear weapon over the Pacific Ocean in response to Donald Trump’s threat to “totally destroy” the hermit state.

The country’s foreign minister Ri Yong Ho told reporters in New York: “This could probably mean the strongest hydrogen bomb test over the Pacific Ocean.”

He conceded that any such test would need to be ordered by Kim Jong-un, adding: “We have no idea about what actions could be taken.”

Kim Jong-un has called Donald Trump a “mentally deranged dotard”, and has warned that the president will “pay dearly” for his threats to strike North Korea.

In an unprecedented video, the despot said that North Korea "will consider with seriousness exercising of a corresponding, highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history."

"I am now thinking hard about what response he could have expected when he allowed such eccentric words to trip off his tongue," Kim said. 

"I will surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged US dotard with fire."

Kim’s words were a direct response to Mr Trump’s shocking maiden UN speech, in which he said that the US will be left with no choice but to “totally destroy” North Korea if provoked. 

“No nation on Earth has an interest in seeing this band of criminals arm itself with nuclear weapons and missiles,” he said. 

“The United States has great strength and patience, but if it is forced to defend itself or its allies, we will have no choice but to totally destroy North Korea. 

“Rocket man is on a suicide mission for himself and for his regime.”

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