Donald Trump on Tuesday accused North Korea of torturing a captive US student "beyond belief," spurning pleas from allies and foes in east Asia to tone down his warlike rhetoric.Trump urged nations to "isolate the North Korean menace" as his administration introduced new sanctions and warned that its "nuclear weapons and missile development threaten the entire word with unthinkable loss of life." The comments, in the White House Rose Garden, came after the US Tre

The US has gamed out four or five different scenarios for how the crisis with North Korea will be resolved, and “some are uglier than others,” National Security Adviser H.R.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling party held a commanding lead in opinion polls released before his expected announcement of a snap general election later on Monday.A poll published in the Nikkei newspaper on Monday said Abe’s LDP (Liberal Democratic Party) held a 44 percent to eight percent lead over the main opposition Democratic Party.

An escalating war of words between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un ratcheted up a notch on Friday as the US president dubbed North Korea's leader a "madman," a day after the reclusive regime hinted it may explode a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific Ocean.Hours earlier, in a rare personal attack, Kim took aim at Trump, branding him "mentally deranged" and a "dotard", and warning he would "pay dearly" for his threat to destroy North Korea if challenged, ut

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stepped up his rhetoric against North Korea in a speech to the United Nations, saying Kim Jong Un was getting away with worse behaviour than any dictator since the end of the Cold War.Abe called for pressure on the regime, rather than talks, and again backed US President Donald Trump’s vow to keep all options on the table for dealing with Pyongyang.

Japan will Tuesday deploy an additional missile defence system on its northern island of Hokkaido, a defence ministry spokesman told AFP, days after North Korea launched a missile over the island."We are deploying a PAC-3 system at about noon" to a base of the nation's Ground Self-Defence Force in the southern tip of Hokkaido, said Kensaku Mizuseki.According to local officials, Japan has already deployed the Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missile defence system to another part o

The yen declined as havens retreated after the worst-case scenarios for North Korea and hurricanes in the US didn’t eventuate, while stocks inched higher in Asia following a record-breaking Wall Street session.Futures on the S&P 500 Index advanced with equities in Australia and South Korea. Japan markets are closed for a holiday on Monday.

Donald Trump's administration ramped up the pressure on North Korea on Sunday ahead of a week of high-stakes diplomacy at the United Nations, warning Pyongyang will be "destroyed" if it refuses to end its "reckless" nuclear and ballistic missile drive.With US officials and their allies scrambling to find ways to contain an increasingly belligerent Pyongyang, the US president will address the UN General Assembly on Tuesday and then confer Thursday with his Japanese and

North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan and into the Pacific Friday, responding to new UN sanctions with what appeared to be its furthest-ever missile flight amid high tensions over its weapons programmes.The launch, from near Pyongyang, came after the United Nations Security Council imposed an eighth set of measures on the isolated country over its ballistic missile and atomic weapons programmes.That followed its sixth nuclear test – by far its largest yet – earlier this month, whic

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting Friday concerning North Korea's latest missile launch over Japan, the council presidency announced.The United States and Japan requested the meeting, which will be held at 3 pm (1900 GMT), according to the Ethopian council presidency.