N. Korea bolsters defences after US bombers’ drill

Seoul/Beijing, Sept. 26: North Korea has boosted defences on its east coast, a South Korean lawmaker said on Tuesday, after the North said US President Donald Trump had declared war and that it would shoot down US bombers flying near the peninsula.

Tensions have escalated since North Korea conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test on September 3, but the rhetoric has reached a new level in recent days with leaders on both sides exchanging threats and insults.

South Korean lawmaker Lee Cheol-uoo, briefed by the country's spy agency, said the reclusive North was in fact bolstering its defenses by moving aircraft to its east coast and taking other measures after U.S. bombers flew close to the Korean peninsula at the weekend.

Mr Lee said the United States appeared to have disclosed the flight route of the bombers intentionally because North Korea seemed to be unaware.

Mr Ri, the foreign minister, said on Monday that the North’s right to countermeasures included shooting down US bombers “even when they are not inside the airspace border of our country”.

“The whole world should clearly remember it was the US who first declared war on our country,” he told reporters in New York on Monday.

Speaking in Beijing on Tuesday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said war on the Korean peninsula would have no winner.