The White House has dismissed as "absurd" an accusation by North Korea that US President Donald Trump had declared war on the Asian nation, with Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho claiming on Monday that Pyongyang could now shoot down US aircraft. "We have not declared war on North Korea and frankly the assertion of that is absurd," Sanders said. The US and North Korea have been engaged in a heated exchange in the face of recent missile and nuclear tests by North Korea, and the US on Friday had expanded its sanctions regime against Pyongyang in a bid to cut off international banking and trade. US Air Force bombers and fighter jets had also flown over international waters off the east coast of North Korea on Saturday in a "demonstration of US resolve" in the face of Pyongyang's provocations. Ri had told the General Assembly that Trump's remarks were making a North Korean "rocket's visit to the entire US mainland inevitable all the more."

Source: The China Post September 25, 2017 21:00 UTC