The Trump administration has settled on its North Korea strategy after a two-month review: “Maximum pressure and engagement.”

U.S. officials said Friday the president’s advisers weighed a range of ideas for how to get North Korea to abandon its nuclear program, including military options and trying to overthrow the isolated communist dictatorship’s leadership. At the other end of the spectrum, they looked at the notion of accepting North Korea as a nuclear state.

WATCH: North Korea ‘on the brink of war’ as U.S. ships approach

In the end, however, they settled on a policy that appears to represent continuity.

The administration’s emphasis, the officials said, will be on increasing pressure on Pyongyang with the help of China, North Korea’s dominant trade and military partner. The officials weren’t authorized to speak publicly on the results of the policy review and requested anonymity.

The new strategy will be deployed at a time of escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula. U.S., South Korean and other officials are closely monitoring the North amid indications it could conduct another missile test or nuclear explosion to coincide with an important national anniversary this weekend.

READ MORE: North Korea ‘primed and ready’ for nuclear weapons test

Pyongyang has undertaken five nuclear tests since 2006. An influential Washington think tank estimated Friday that North Korea could already have up to 30 bombs.

The Institute for Science and International Security cited a worrying increase in North Korea’s nuclear program, but said the arsenal may only have been as large as 13 atomic weapons at the end of 2016. Its research suggested a range between 10 and 16 such weapons two years earlier. The institute’s estimates are based on what it believes the North has produced in plutonium and weapons-grade uranium. The margins represent uncertainty as to whether North Korea has one or two uranium enrichment facilities.

The North has owned up to one such facility, at its Nyongbyon nuclear complex, but the U.S. government assumes it has more.

“The bottom line is that North Korea has an improving nuclear weapons arsenal,” said David Albright, the institute’s president.

WATCH: North Korea opens new residential complex that is ‘scarier’ than hundreds of nuclear bombs’

He said the North may have a handful of plutonium-based warheads it can mount on medium-range ballistic missiles capable of reaching South Korea and Japan. But it’s doubtful the North is currently able to build reliable, survivable warheads for an intercontinental ballistic missile that can strike the U.S. mainland, he said.

As for the Trump administration’s policy, the U.S. officials emphasized that no engagement of North Korea is currently taking place, and that the focus now was on pressure.

While China advocates for diplomatic outreach, the officials said the goal of engagement would have to be North Korea’s de-nuclearization. It cannot lead to an arms control agreement or reduction of the North’s atomic arsenal that would imply American acceptance of North Korea as a nuclear power.

READ MORE: China says military force won’t resolve tension as North Korea appears ready for nuke test

The officials are hopeful China and Russia would agree to tighter U.N. sanctions on North Korea if it conducts another nuclear test. They pointed to a recent editorial in a state-run Chinese newspaper advocating tighter restrictions on selling oil to North Korea.

Beijing’s decision earlier this year to cut off coal imports from North Korea also are being seen as a hopeful sign. Coal sales are an important source of revenue for Kim Jong Un‘s government, and the U.S. says China has turned back some shipments in recent days. Russia and China are critical to any pressure campaign on North Korea because they both hold veto power on the U.N. Security Council.

In an interview Friday with The Associated Press, North Korea’s Vice Minister Han Song Ryol said President Donald Trump‘s tough tweets toward Pyongyang were adding to a “vicious cycle” of tensions. Han said if the U.S. shows any sign of “reckless” military aggression, Pyongyang is ready to launch a pre-emptive strike of its own.

Trump, who last week acted unilaterally in ordering a cruise missile strike on Syria, has been using America’s military might to send a message to Kim. An aircraft carrier, the USS Carl Vinson, is heading to waters off Korea in a show of force. Trump has repeatedly issued ambiguous threats that if Beijing isn’t willing to do more to squeeze the North, the U.S. might take the matter into its own hands.

But a U.S. military official, who requested anonymity to discuss planning, said the U.S. doesn’t intend to use military force against North Korea in response to either a nuclear test or a missile launch. The official said plans could change in the unlikely event a North Korean missile targets South Korea, Japan or U.S. territory.</s>A conflict over North Korea could break out “at any moment”, China’s foreign minister Wang Yi said on Friday, warning there would be “no winner” in any war, as tensions soar with the US.

The sharp language came after US President Donald Trump said that the “problem” of North Korea “will be taken care of”, as speculation mounts that the reclusive state could be preparing another nuclear or missile test.

“Lately, tensions have risen with the US and the ROK on one side, and the DPRK on the other, and one has the feeling that a conflict could break out at any moment,” Wang said, using abbreviations for South and North Korea.

“If a war occurs, the result is a situation in which everybody loses and there can be no winner,” he said during a joint press conference with his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault.
• None North Korea condemns US for bringing nuclear assets to the peninsula

Wang said whichever side provoked a conflict “must assume the historic responsibility and pay the corresponding price.”

A White House foreign policy advisor said Friday that the US is assessing military options in response to North Korea’s weapons programs, saying another provocative test was a question of “when” rather than “if.”

There are reports of activity at a nuclear test site in North Korea ahead of Saturday’s 105th anniversary of the birth of the country’s founder Kim Il-Sung.

“Dialogue is the only possible solution,” Wang said.</s>Both the United States and North Korea have warned of impending military action against the other in recent days. North Korea sparked speculation of an impending nuclear test, while the U.S. warned it would unleash a pre-emptive strike against the nation if it felt a significant nuclear threat was imminent. North Korea retaliated by saying it…</s>Officials in North Korea have already warned nuclear war could break out at any minute thanks to the "extremely tense" situation on the Korean Peninsula. The US sent a navy strike group towards the Western Pacific in a show of force, with North Korea retorting with warnings of a nuclear attack in retaliation to any show of aggression.

And more than 600,000 people - about 25 per cent of the city’s population - are being urgently evacuated, as tensions continue to escalate between North Korea and the United States. But jubilant images of the chubby dictator Kim Jong-un released today show he is all smiles as he cuts the ribbon during an opening ceremony of a newly constructed residential complex in Pyongyang. The series of brightly coloured photographs show cheering crowds full of gleeful faces as the bloated despot takes to the stage for the celebrations.

Flags are seen billowing in the breeze as military officials watch on from their rigid lines. And Kim Jong-Un, wearing a silken striped suit and black rimmed glasses, waves to his people as he grins from ear to ear on the podium. The images come just days ahead of a reportedly planned nuclear test from the disgraced state, which is set to be the biggest ever nuke blast in the country’s history.

On Saturday, North Korea will celebrate the Day of the Sun - named for Kim Il-Sung who established the secretive state in 1948. And his grandson plans to mark the occasion with a massive explosion in true dictator fashion. Chris Ogden, an expert in Asian security, told Daily Star Online there was a "good possibility" of a test on Saturday.

He said: "Definitely for this celebration that’s coming up, a lot of it is to do with celebrating North Korea and its nationalism. "There may be some kind of show of strength that North Korea is progressing, that it’s independent, that it’s able to stand up to the system. "On the other side of things, North Korea doesn’t really have that many cards to play internationally, apart from testing a nuclear device or a missile."</s>http://undergroundworldnews.com

 In his address to soldiers, Choe Ryong Hae, a close aide to Kim Jong Un, addressed the packed square with a characteristically bellicose warning to the United States. “If the United States wages reckless provocation against us, our revolutionary power will instantly counter with annihilating strike, and we will respond to full-out war with full-out war and to nuclear war with our style of nuclear strike warfare,” he said.

Earlier, state news agency KCNA said the Trump administration’s “serious military hysteria” had reached a “dangerous phase which can no longer be overlooked”. The United States has warned that a policy of “strategic patience” with North Korea is over. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence travels to South Korea on Sunday on a long-planned 10-day trip to Asia.

China’s Global Times newspaper also rattled some cages when it said North Korea must have felt the shockwave from the 11-ton “mother of all bombs” dropped by U.S. forces on Islamic State-linked fighters in Afghanistan on Thursday. “It would be nice if the bomb could frighten Pyongyang, but its actual impact may just be the opposite.”

North Korea on Friday denounced the United States for bringing “huge nuclear strategic assets” to the region as the USS Carl Vinson strike group with a flag-ship nuclear-powered aircraft carrier steamed closer.</s>| North Korea has already staged four ballistic missile tests this year and is now threatening to test a nuclear device despite warnings from the U.S. and China. Saturday is a major national holiday in North Korea and a past occasion to display military might. Ben Tracy reports from Pyongyang.</s>(BEIJING/PYONGYANG) — Military force cannot resolve tension over North Korea, China said on Thursday, while an influential Chinese newspaper urged the North to halt its nuclear program in exchange for Chinese protection.

With a U.S. aircraft carrier group steaming to the area and tension rising, South Korea said it believed the United States would consult it before any pre-emptive strike against the North.

Fears have been growing that the reclusive North could soon conduct its sixth nuclear test or more missile launches in defiance of U.N. sanctions and stark warnings from the United States that a policy of patience was over.

China, North Korea's sole major ally and benefactor, which nevertheless opposes its weapons program, has called for talks leading to a peaceful resolution and the denuclearization of the peninsula.

"Military force cannot resolve the issue," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters in Beijing.

"Amid challenge there is opportunity. Amid tensions we will also find a kind of opportunity to return to talks."

While U.S. President Donald Trump has put North Korea on notice that he would not tolerate any provocation, U.S. officials have said his administration was focusing its strategy on tougher economic sanctions.

Trump has diverted the USS Carl Vinson aircraft carrier group towards the Korean peninsula, which could take more than a week to arrive, in a show of force aimed at deterring North Korea from conducting another nuclear test or launching more missiles to coincide with important events and anniversaries.

The possibility of U.S. military action gained traction after the U.S. Navy fired 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian airfield last week in response to a deadly gas attack.

Wang warned that history would hold any instigator to account.

"Whoever provokes the situation, whoever continues to make trouble in this place, they will have to assume historical responsibility," Wang said.

South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se told parliament in Seoul he believed Washington would consult Seoul if it was considering a pre-emptive strike. The United States has about 28,500 troops in South Korea.

A Washington-based think-tank that monitors North Korea, 38 North, said satellite images on Wednesday showed activity around the North's Punggye-ri nuclear test site on the east coast that indicated it was ready for a new test.

South Korean officials said there were no new signs to indicate a test was more likely, although they also said the North appeared ready to conduct a test at any time.

An influential state-backed Chinese newspaper said the best option for North Korea and its leader, Kim Jong Un, was to give up its nuclear programme, and China would protect it if it did.

"As soon as North Korea complies with China's declared advice and suspends nuclear activities ... China will actively work to protect the security of a denuclearised North Korean nation and regime," said an editorial in the Global Times, which is published by the Communist party's People's Daily.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe underscored fears about threats from North Korea, telling parliament in Tokyo that Pyongyang could have the capacity to deliver missiles equipped with sarin nerve gas.

A senior Japanese diplomat said the United States was putting "maximum pressure" on North Korea to resolve issues peacefully while putting responsibility on China to sway its old ally.

"We will watch what action China takes," the diplomat said.

While Japan did not see a high risk of military action, it expected to be consulted by the United States if it decided to attack. North Korea has about 350 missiles that can hit Japan.

About 200 foreign journalists gathered in Pyongyang for North Korea's biggest national day, the "Day of the Sun", were taken to what officials billed as a "big and important event" early on Thursday.

It turned out to be the opening of a new street in the centre of the capital, attended by leader Kim.

North Korea marks the 105th anniversary of the birth of state founder Kim Il Sung on Saturday. In 2012, it tried but failed to launch a long-range rocket carrying a satellite to mark the date and tested a newly developed intermediate-range missile last year.

North Korea's official KCNA news agency said early on Thursday that Kim Jong Un had guided training of the army's special operation forces jumping from aircraft.

On Tuesday, North Korea warned of a nuclear attack on the United States at any sign of American aggression. The North is technically at war with the United States and South Korea after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce and not a peace treaty.

The North regularly threatens to destroy both countries.

U.S. officials said Trump was considering sanctions that could include an oil embargo, banning North Korea's airline, intercepting cargo ships, and punishing Chinese banks doing business with it.

"There's a whole host of things that are possible, all the way up to what's essentially a trade quarantine on North Korea," one official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters in Washington.

Customs data in Beijing on Thursday showed that China's coal imports from North Korea had plunged 51.6 percent in the first three months in 2017 from a year ago.

China suspended issue of permits for coal imports from North Korea on Feb. 18 as part of its effort to implement U.N. sanctions.

Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke by telephone on Wednesday, just days after they met in the United States for the first time, underscoring the sense of urgency about North Korea.

Trump said on Twitter his call with Xi was a "very good" discussion of the "menace of North Korea". He said later on Wednesday the United States was prepared to tackle the crisis without China, if necessary.

Additional reporting by Natalie Thomas in Pyongyang, Ju-min Park and James Pearson in Seoul, Christian Shepherd in Beijing, Linda Sieg in Tokyo, and Matt Spetalnick, David Brunnstrom and Jeff Mason in Washington</s>Former Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta warned Friday that the strong rhetoric coming from President Donald Trump's administration toward North Korea could escalate tensions.

"The words from the administration are creating even higher volume in terms of the provocations that are going on. I think we have got to be careful here," Panetta told NBC News' Andrea Mitchell. "We should not engage in any precipitous action. There is a reason no U.S. president in recent history has pulled the trigger on North Korea."

He added, "We have the potential for a nuclear war that would take millions of lives. So I think we have got to exercise some care here."

RELATED: North Korea test will be when leader sees fit

Multiple senior U.S. intelligence officials told NBC News the U.S. is prepared to preemptively strike North Korea if they learn the country is about to conduct a nuclear test. Pyongyang has said a "big event" is near.

"Well, there's no question that this is a tinderbox, has been for a long time but we're at a time when there is a potential for provocation with the testing of this nuclear weapon," Panetta said. And, you know, obviously the words from the administration are creating even higher volume in terms of the provocations that are going on."

"You have got 20 million people in Seoul; that would be a target," the former CIA director said. "We've just given China the opportunity to engage. Let's see how they do."

Trump met last week at Mar-a-Lago with Chinese President Xi Jinping and said that he wanted to enlist his help in dealing with North Korea.

Trump "seems pleased with what President Xi has committed to," Panetta noted.

"North Korea is behaving very badly. They have been 'playing' the United States for years. China has done little to help!" Trump tweeted last month before his meeting with Xi.

North Korean leaders have said Trump is "making trouble" with his threatening tweets.

The nation's official Rodong Sinmun newspaper said North Korea was prepared to respond to any aggression by the United States.

"Our revolutionary strong army is keenly watching every move by enemy elements with our nuclear sight focused on the U.S. invasionary bases not only in South Korea and the Pacific operation theater but also in the U.S. mainland," it said.

Meanwhile, The country's foreign minister said it will conduct its next nuclear test whenever its supreme headquarters sees fit.

Vice Minister Han Song Ryol made the comments in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press in Pyongyang on Friday.

"That is something that our headquarters decides," Han said. "At a time and at a place where the headquarters deems necessary, it will take place."

He also said the situation on the Korean Peninsula was in a "vicious cycle" as tensions with the U.S. and its allies deepen.

In other developments in the region, Japan's National Security Council has discussed how to evacuate its nearly 60,000 citizens from South Korea in the event of a crisis, a government official said Friday amid rising concern over North Korea's nuclear weapons program, according to Reuters.

Besides commercial ships and planes, Japan would want to send military aircraft and ships to assist in the evacuation if the South Korean government agreed, the official, familiar with the discussion, said.</s>North Korea is prepared to preempt any "reckless" military intervention from the United States under the "more vicious and more aggressive" President Trump, Vice Minister Han Song Ryol told The Associated Press in an interview published Friday.

"We've got a powerful nuclear deterrent already in our hands, and we certainly will not keep our arms crossed in the face of a U.S. preemptive strike," Han said. "Whatever comes from the U.S., we will cope with it. We are fully prepared to handle it."

His comments follow a Thursday report from NBC News citing unnamed senior intelligence officials who said the U.S. is prepared to launch a conventional attack, including American boots on the ground, on North Korea if the isolated nation conducts another nuclear weapons test. Fox News reporter Jennifer Griffin, however, said "multiple senior defense officials" denied NBC's report, calling it "wildly wrong."

Such a test is expected as soon as this Saturday, April 15, when Pyonyang celebrates the birthday of Kim Il Sung, the founding president of the regime. Kim Jong Un, the founder's grandson and the current leader, has hinted a major new weapons test may be scheduled for that day. Last weekend, a U.S. Navy carrier strike group changed course and moved toward North Korea in what was understood to be a show of force against Pyongyang. Bonnie Kristian</s>U. S. Vice President Mike Pence travels to South Korea on Sunday on a long-planned 10-day trip to Asia.

China said on Friday tension over North Korea had to be stopped from reaching an "irreversible and unmanageable stage" as a U.S. aircraft carrier group steamed towards the region amid fears the North may conduct a sixth nuclear weapons test.

Concern has grown since the U.S. Navy fired 59 Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian airfield last week in response to a deadly gas attack, raising questions about U.S. President Donald Trump's plans for North Korea, which has conducted missile and nuclear tests in defiance of U.N. and unilateral sanctions.

The United States has warned that a policy of "strategic patience" is over. U.S. Vice President Mike Pence travels to South Korea on Sunday on a long-planned 10-day trip to Asia.

China, North Korea's sole major ally and neighbour which nevertheless opposes its weapons programme, has called for talks leading to the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula.

"We call on all parties to refrain from provoking and threatening each other, whether in words or actions, and not let the situation get to an irreversible and unmanageable stage," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters in Beijing.

North Korea denounced the United States for bringing "huge nuclear strategic assets" to the region as the Carl Vinson strike group with a flag-ship nuclear-powered aircraft carrier steamed closer, and said it stood ready to strike back.

"The Trump administration, which made a surprise guided cruise-missile strike on Syria on April 6, has entered the path of open threat and blackmail," the North's KCNA news agency quoted the military as saying in a statement.

"The army and people of the DPRK will as ever courageously counter those who encroach upon the dignity and sovereignty of the DPRK and will always mercilessly ravage all provocative options of the U.S. with Korean-style toughest counteraction."

DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

North Korea, still technically at war with the South after their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a treaty, has on occasion conducted missile or nuclear tests to coincide with big political events and often threatens the United States, South Korea and Japan.

On Saturday, it marks the "Day of the Sun", the 105th anniversary of the birth of state founder Kim Il Sung.

U.S. ally South Korea warned against any North Korean "provocation", such as a nuclear or missile test.

"There is certain to be powerful punitive measure that will be difficult for the North Korean regime to endure," the South's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

WITH OR WITHOUT YOU

While Trump has put North Korea on notice that he will not tolerate any more provocation, U.S. officials have said his administration is focusing its strategy on tougher economic sanctions.

Trump said on Thursday North Korea was a problem that "will be taken care of" and he believed Chinese President Xi Jinping would "work very hard" to help resolve it.

Trump has also said the United States is prepared to tackle the crisis without China, if necessary.

He diverted the Carl Vinson aircraft carrier and its strike group towards the Korean peninsula last weekend in a show of force. (http://tmsnrt.rs/2p1yGTQ)

Worry about North Korean aggression has also led to a deterioration of ties between China and South Korea because China objects to the deployment of a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) anti-missile system in the South.

"It's not hard to see that ever since the United States and Republic of Korea decided to deploy THAAD, the situation has not become harmonious but has become more tense," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang, said in response to a question about the system.

South Korea and the United States say the sole purpose of the THAAD is to guard against North Korean missiles, but China says that its powerful radar could penetrate its territory.

The dollar fell on Friday against a basket of currencies, on track for a losing week as tension over North Korea underpinned the perceived safe-haven Japanese yen.

Japan's Nikkei business daily said the government had discussed how to rescue an estimated 57,000 Japanese citizens in South Korea as well as how to cope with a possible flood of North Korean refugees coming to Japan, among whom might be spies.

In Pyongyang, retired soldier Ho Song Chol told Reuters that North Korea would win should there be any conflict with the United States.

"We don't think about other things, we just live in our belief that we will win as long as our Supreme Leader is with us," Ho said, referring to Kim Jong Un.

Kang Gil-won, a 26-year-old graduate living in Seoul, said his biggest concern was not North Korea, but finding work in a tough job market.

"There's no concern that war is going to break out tomorrow," he told Reuters at a "study café" where many young job seekers prepare for interviews.

"Getting a job is a war that I feel in my bones."
Air China suspends all flights to North Korea's capital Pyongyang amid rising tensions between North Korea and the United States.