South Korea, allies brace for North Korea follow-up act

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Fresh off an immense North Korean parade that revealed an arsenal of intercontinental ballistic missiles, rival South Korea and its allies are bracing for the possibility that Pyongyang's follow-up act will be even bigger.

China's official broadcaster CCTV quoted President Xi Jinping telling Trump that China strongly opposed North Korea's nuclear weapons program and hoped "all parties will exercise restraint and avoid aggravating the situation."

Recent U.S. commercial satellite images indicate increased activity around North Korea's nuclear test site, and third-generation dictator Kim Jong Un has said that the country's preparation for an ICBM launch is in its "final stage."

While Trump has dispatched what he called an "armada" of ships to the region, including an aircraft carrier, U.S. officials have told The Associated Press that the administration doesn't intend to militarily respond to a North Korean nuclear or missile test.

With typical rhetorical flourish, the ministry said North Korea "will react to a total war with an all-out war, a nuclear war with nuclear strikes of its own style and surely win a victory in the death-defying struggle against the U.S. imperialists."