WASHINGTON (AP) - Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged calm and said Americans should have "no concerns" after North Korea and President Donald Trump traded fiery threats, insisting Wednesday he doesn't believe there is "any imminent threat."

"Americans should sleep well at night," Tillerson said.

In more tranquil terms, Tillerson sought to explain the thinking behind Trump's warning to Pyongyang that it would be "met with fire and fury like the world has never seen" if it made more threats to the United States. Tillerson said Trump was trying to send a strong and clear message to North Korea's leader so that there wouldn't be "any miscalculation."

"What the president is doing is sending a strong message to North Korea in language that Kim Jong Un can understand, because he doesn't seem to understand diplomatic language," Tillerson said. "I think the president just wanted to be clear to the North Korean regime on the U.S. unquestionable ability to defend itself, will defend itself and its allies."

The comments put Tillerson once again in the role of translating the president's aggressive rhetoric into more diplomatic terms, and of working to minimize the chances of public panic. But Trump was not softening his remarks. While on vacation in New Jersey early Wednesday, he retweeted a video of him issuing the threat a day earlier, then wrote on Twitter that his "first order" as president had been to renovate and modernize the U.S. nuclear arsenal

"It is now far stronger and more powerful than ever before...." Trump wrote.

The mixed messages from Tillerson and Trump put the onus on the North Koreans to decide how to interpret the latest missives from the U.S. Still, Tillerson insisted the developments didn't suggest the U.S. was moving closer to a military option to dealing with the crisis.

"Nothing that I have seen and nothing that I know of would indicate that the situation has dramatically changed in the last 24 hours," Tillerson said.

He said North Korea's escalating threats showed it was feeling the pressure from a successful U.S. strategy.

Tillerson spoke to reporters aboard his plane as he returned from Malaysia to Washington, stopping along the way in Guam. Hours earlier, North Korea's army had said in a statement it was exploring plans for attacking the tiny U.S. territory, which houses U.S. military bases and is a common refueling stop for U.S. government aircraft traversing the Pacific Ocean.

Tillerson said he never considered re-routing his trip from Malaysia so as to avoid stopping in Guam. Though he insisted there was no imminent threat, he noted that even if there were, "the North Korean missile capability can point in many directions, so Guam is not the only place that would be under threat."

Though it's extremely unlikely the North would risk annihilation by pre-emptively attacking American citizens, the escalating rhetoric has heightened concern that a miscalculation could spiral out of control and lead to military conflict — a concern especially acute in Guam, residents of the territory said.

Tillerson, who spent the past days in Asia working the North Korea conflict, said he didn't believe a new diplomatic strategy was needed. To the contrary, he said the latest threat from the North suggested the current strategy was working. After months of frustration over China's reluctance to pressure Pyongyang economically, the U.S. on Saturday secured a unanimous U.N. Security Council vote to authorize sweeping new sanctions that target one-third of the North's exports.

"The pressure is starting to show," Tillerson said. "I think that's why the rhetoric coming out of Pyongyang is beginning to become louder and more threatening. Whether we've got them backed into a corner or not is difficult to say, but diplomatically, you never like to have someone in a corner without a way for them to get out."

To that end, Tillerson said there was still an off-ramp available to Pyongyang: A return to negotiations with the U.S., a step that Tillerson has previously said can happen only if Kim Jong Un's government gives up its nuclear aspirations, starting with an extended pause in missile tests.

"Talks," Tillerson said when asked if North Korea had a way out. "Talks, with the right expectation of what those talks will be about."</s>The unusually detailed report on the attack plan marked a further escalation in tensions between Pyongyang and Washington after U.S. President Donald Trump warned North Korea earlier this week it would face "fire and fury" if it threatened the United States.

North Korea's official news agency KCNA described Trump's threat as a "load of nonsense."

"Sound dialog is not possible with such a guy bereft of reason and only absolute force can work on him," it said of Trump, adding that it will keep closely watching the speech and behavior of the United States.

The North Korean army is developing a plan "in order to interdict the enemy forces on major military bases on Guam and to signal a crucial warning to the United States," the KCNA report said. Guam is home to about 163,000 people and a U.S. military base that includes a submarine squadron, an airbase and a Coast Guard group.

"The Hwasong-12 rockets to be launched by the KPA (Korean People's Army) will cross the sky above Shimane, Hiroshima and Koichi Prefectures of Japan," the report said, citing General Kim Rak Gyom, commander of the Strategic Force of the KPA.

"They will fly 3,356.7 km (2,085.8 miles) for 1,065 seconds and hit the waters 30 to 40 km away from Guam."

Tensions surged this week after Trump's warning to the isolated state to give up its nuclear weapons and missile programs.

North Korea carried out two nuclear bomb tests last year and two intercontinental ballistic missile tests in July. Trump has said he will not allow Pyongyang to develop a nuclear weapon capable of hitting the United States.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis also issued a stark warning to North Korea on Wednesday, telling Pyongyang it should stop any actions that would lead to the "end of its regime and the destruction of its people."</s>Tens of thousands of North Koreans gathered for a rally at Kim Il Sung Square, North Korea. (AAP)

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has warned North Korea that it would be "grossly" outmatched in any conflict with the US, telling Pyongyang to stop considering any action that risked "the destruction of its people".

"The DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) must choose to stop isolating itself and stand down its pursuit of nuclear weapons," Mattis said in a statement.

"The DPRK should cease any consideration of actions that would lead to the end of its regime and the destruction of its people."

The Pentagon chief's comments came a day after President Donald Trump issued an apocalyptic warning to his North Korean counterpart Kim Jong-Un, telling him Pyongyang faced "fire and fury" over its weapons and ballistic missile programs.

Mattis said the United Nations Security Council now has a "unified" voice after it unanimously approved tough new sanctions against North Korea.

"The United States and our allies have the demonstrated capabilities and unquestionable commitment to defend ourselves from an attack," Mattis said.

North Korea has responded to President Trump's 'fire and fury' threats, saying any plans would be met with an 'all-out war wiping out all the strongholds of enemies'. North Korea threatens strike near US territory Guam after Trump warning North Korea said Wednesday that it is considering strikes near US strategic military installations in Guam with its intermediate range ballistic missiles, state news agency KCNA reported.

He added that US and allied militaries now have "the most precise, rehearsed and robust defensive and offensive capabilities on Earth."

"The DPRK regime's actions will continue to be grossly overmatched by ours and would lose any arms race or conflict it initiates," he said.

Trump's language towards North Korea has become increasingly hard-edged since Pyongyang carried out a pair of successful intercontinental ballistic missile tests (ICBM) in July, which put the US mainland in range for the first time.

Pyongyang's KCNA state news agency reported Wednesday that plans were being drawn up for missile strikes against the tiny US Pacific island territory of Guam.

'Uncontrollable' North Korea could unleash a nuclear war in next 18 months: analyst Despite the US and allies' attempts to avoid war with North Korea, there's a 'pretty good' chance the Kim Jong-un regime will launch a nuclear strike in the next 12-18 months, says defence analyst.

Mattis's tone was at odds with that of Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who earlier said he did not believe "there is any imminent threat" to Guam or other US targets and hoped that diplomatic pressure would prevail in the crisis.

"I think Americans should sleep well at night, have no concerns about this particular rhetoric of the last few days," Tillerson said.

Tensions rise between North Korea and US</s>A day after North Korea threatened revenge on the United States over newly issued sanctions handed down by the United Nations, President Donald Trump and North Korean officials exchanged threats Tuesday.

These would include US Navy ships and submarines armed with cruise missiles, plus Air Force bombers that could operate out of bases in Japan or Guam, he said.

“The situation on the Korean peninsula is already volatile enough”, said Sen.

The North Korea comments were published after US President Donald Trump warned Pyongyang that if it continued to threaten the US, it would “face fire and fury like the world has never seen“.

And now? Last week, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson offered soothing words about North Korea: “We do not seek a regime change, we do not seek a collapse of the regime, we do not seek an accelerated reunification of the peninsula, we do not seek an excuse to send our military north of the 38th Parallel”, he said.

“Slow down, think strategy Mr. President”, said John McLaughlin, the CIA Director under President Obama.

The successful testing of two intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) last month suggested the reclusive North was making technical progress, Japan’s annual Defence White Paper warned.

No one has come up with the answer as yet.

It wasn’t clear what threats Trump was referring to when he addressed reporters Tuesday. This is especially true when it would appear that, by its very nature, the information coming out of North Korea could not possibly be as unquestionable as it seems to be with regard to Russian Federation.

North Korea experts have long advised against overtly hostile threats to the North, particularly given how little is known about the country’s unpredictable young leader, Kim Jong Un, and his stewardship of the world’s largest standing army.

The consequences of any US strike would potentially be catastrophic for South Koreans, Japanese and USA military personnel within range of North Korean retaliatory strikes.

Should US allies refuse to let the military to launch strikes from their territory, Guam would be the most likely place from which to launch airstrikes on North Korea, Schuster says, adding that this is how Kim will regard it.

Similar threats in 2013 led Guam’s U.S. Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo to advocate for the THAAD system, she said in a statement Wednesday.

“We must all continue our diplomatic efforts – it is the only way to ensure that the threat of the illegal North Korean nuclear weapons programme can be contained”, he said. If the North calls Trump’s bluff and conducts more missile launches or nuclear tests, Trump will be under added pressure now to deliver a forceful American response. The South Koreans obviously expect us to meet our mutual defense treaty requirements, but they just elected to office a new administration that desires to find a peaceful solution to the crisis, indeed direct talks.

True, Beijing has not done enough to change Kim’s calculus and their implementation of sanctions in the past has been spotty, but in the wake of a truly significant win in the UN – one that represented a galvanized worldwide community against an increasingly isolated North – Trump actually risks isolating the United States instead.

And The Washington Post reported Tuesday that USA intelligence officials assess that a decade after North Korea’s first nuclear test explosion, Pyongyang has produced nuclear weapons for ballistic missile delivery, including by intercontinental missiles – the type capable of reaching the continental U.S. They immediately effectively called Trump’s obvious bluff (who promises nuclear war over threats rather than actions?!) by announcing plans to strike the island of Guam.

The comments come as Trump and North Korea traded escalating threats.

Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson held talks with Malaysian officials on August 9, as part of a Southeast Asia trip created to persuade allies to maintain pressure on North Korea over its nuclear missile program.

The U.S. has expressed a willingness to work with Kim.</s>James Mattis, Donald Trump's Defence Secretary, issued the stark warning amid growing fears Kim could trigger an all-out nuclear war. He said: "The DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] must choose to stop isolating itself and stand down its pursuit of nuclear weapons. "The DPRK should cease any consideration of actions that would lead to the end of its regime and the destruction of its people.

"The DPRK regime's actions will continue to be grossly overmatched by ours and would lose any arms race or conflict it initiates." Earlier today, Kim Jong-un's war-crazed regime threatened to launch a missile strike against the US territory of Guam. The rogue state warned it was time for US citizens to stop believing "its mainland is an invulnerable Heavenly kingdom".

Mr Mattis' sabre-rattling comes a day after Mr Trump issued a similar threat to Pyongyang. Speaking to reporters in New Jersey, the President said: "North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States. "They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen. He [Kim Jong-un] has been very threatening beyond a normal state. "As I said, they will be met with fire and fury and, frankly, power, the likes of which this world has never seen before."

But North Korea's Foreign Minister insisted the rogue state will never abandon its nuclear ambition as long as the US remains "hostile". Ri Yong-ho told the ASEAN Regional Forum: "We will, under no circumstances, put the nukes and ballistic rockets on the negotiating table. "Neither shall we flinch an inch from the road to bolstering up the nuclear forces chosen by ourselves unless the hostile policy and nuclear threat of the US against the DPRK are fundamentally eliminated."</s>Secretary of State Rex Tillerson urged calm and said Americans should have "no concerns" after North Korea and President Donald Trump traded fiery threats, insisting Wednesday he doesn't believe there is "any imminent threat."

"Americans should sleep well at night," Tillerson said.

In more tranquil terms, Tillerson sought to explain the thinking behind Trump's warning to Pyongyang that it would be "met with fire and fury like the world has never seen" if it made more threats to the United States. Tillerson said Trump was trying to send a strong and clear message to North Korea's leader so that there wouldn't be "any miscalculation."

"What the president is doing is sending a strong message to North Korea in language that Kim Jong Un can understand, because he doesn't seem to understand diplomatic language," Tillerson said. "I think the president just wanted to be clear to the North Korean regime on the U.S. unquestionable ability to defend itself, will defend itself and its allies."

The comments put Tillerson once again in the role of translating the president's aggressive rhetoric into more diplomatic terms, and of working to minimize the chances of public panic. But Trump was not softening his remarks. While on vacation in New Jersey early Wednesday, he retweeted a video of him issuing the threat a day earlier, then wrote on Twitter that his "first order" as president had been to renovate and modernize the U.S. nuclear arsenal

"It is now far stronger and more powerful than ever before...." Trump wrote.

The mixed messages from Tillerson and Trump put the onus on the North Koreans to decide how to interpret the latest missives from the U.S. Still, Tillerson insisted the developments didn't suggest the U.S. was moving closer to a military option to dealing with the crisis.

"Nothing that I have seen and nothing that I know of would indicate that the situation has dramatically changed in the last 24 hours," Tillerson said.

He said North Korea's escalating threats showed it was feeling the pressure from a successful U.S. strategy.

Tillerson spoke to reporters aboard his plane as he returned from Malaysia to Washington, stopping along the way in Guam. Hours earlier, North Korea's army had said in a statement it was exploring plans for attacking the tiny U.S. territory, which houses U.S. military bases and is a common refueling stop for U.S. government aircraft traversing the Pacific Ocean.

Tillerson said he never considered re-routing his trip from Malaysia so as to avoid stopping in Guam. Though he insisted there was no imminent threat, he noted that even if there were, "the North Korean missile capability can point in many directions, so Guam is not the only place that would be under threat."

Though it's extremely unlikely the North would risk annihilation by pre-emptively attacking American citizens, the escalating rhetoric has heightened concern that a miscalculation could spiral out of control and lead to military conflict — a concern especially acute in Guam, residents of the territory said.

Tillerson, who spent the past days in Asia working the North Korea conflict, said he didn't believe a new diplomatic strategy was needed. To the contrary, he said the latest threat from the North suggested the current strategy was working. After months of frustration over China's reluctance to pressure Pyongyang economically, the U.S. on Saturday secured a unanimous U.N. Security Council vote to authorize sweeping new sanctions that target one-third of the North's exports.

"The pressure is starting to show," Tillerson said. "I think that's why the rhetoric coming out of Pyongyang is beginning to become louder and more threatening. Whether we've got them backed into a corner or not is difficult to say, but diplomatically, you never like to have someone in a corner without a way for them to get out."

To that end, Tillerson said there was still an off-ramp available to Pyongyang: A return to negotiations with the U.S., a step that Tillerson has previously said can happen only if Kim Jong Un's government gives up its nuclear aspirations, starting with an extended pause in missile tests.

"Talks," Tillerson said when asked if North Korea had a way out. "Talks, with the right expectation of what those talks will be about."</s>Hours after President Trump threatened North Korea with "fire and fury," the country responded with a threat to attack the U.S. protectorate of Guam to contain the U.S. bases there.

"Such military maneuvers of the U.S. may provoke a dangerous conflict under the present extremely acute situation prevailing on the Korean peninsula," said the Korean People's Army in a statement to the state-run news agency KCNA.

North Korea said U.S. bombers from Guam patrol the skies over South Korea "openly stage actual war drills and muscle-flexing in a bid to strike the strategic bases of the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea]."

The U.S. and South Korea frequently conduct joint military exercises.

The statement said the U.S. should "immediately stop its reckless military provocation against the state of the DPRK so that the latter would not be forced to make an unavoidable military choice."

DPRK added it's "now carefully examining the operational plan for making an enveloping fire" in Guam using "medium-to-long-range strategic ballistic" missiles.

In response, Madeleine Z. Bordallo, the non-voting U.S. Rep. from Guam, (D-Guam), called the attack reports "troubling" but she wrote that she is "confident that Guam remains safe and protected."

Meanwhile, the U.S. Pacific Air Forces stand ready as they tweeted out a message stating they've joined their counterparts from South Korea and Japanese air forces in sequenced bilateral missions.

Earlier Tuesday, Mr. Trump warned "North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States."

"They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen," Mr. Trump told reporters. Kim Jong Un "has been very threatening -- beyond a normal statement. As I said, they will be met with fire, fury and frankly power the likes of which this world has never seen before."

8/8/2017 Related Story: Trump Warns North Korea Will Be 'Met With Fire And Fury'

The threats came hours after a CBS News poll released Tuesday found nearly 3 in 4 Americans are uneasy about the possibility of a conflict with North Korea, and most are also uneasy about Mr. Trump's approach to the situation. Of those polled, 61 percent were uneasy about Mr. Trump's ability to handle the North Korean nuclear situation, while 35 percent were confident in his ability.

The U.S. in May successfully carried out its first-ever missile defense test to intercept an ICBM-type weapon, but other tests have had mixed results.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.</s>SEOUL, South Korea (AP) The Latest on the North Korea crisis (all times local):

President Donald Trump is stressing the United States’ nuclear capabilities, saying “there will never be a time that we are not the most powerful nation in the world!”

On Twitter Wednesday, Trump said he had pushed to “renovate and modernize our nuclear arsenal.” He then added: “Hopefully we will never have to use this power, but there will never be a time that we are not the most powerful nation in the world!”

The comments come as Trump and North Korea traded escalating threats. Trump’s heated rhetoric comes as his secretary of state seeks to downplay the words.

President Donald Trump says the United States’ nuclear arsenal is “far stronger and more powerful than ever before.”

Trump tweeted Wednesday: “My first order as President was to renovate and modernize our nuclear arsenal. It is now far stronger and more powerful than ever before….”

The tweet came as Trump traded escalating threats with North Korea. Trump on Tuesday threatened “fire and fury” if North Korea made more threats to the U.S. And North Korea’s military said it was examining plans for attacking Guam.

President Donald Trump is retweeting news coverage about his heated rhetoric against North Korea, even as his secretary of state is downplaying Trump’s words.

On Wednesday morning, Trump retweeted “Fox & Friends” tweets about Trump’s fiery rhetoric. One said “Trump vows U.S. ‘power’ will meet North Korean threat.” Another included a video clip of Trump vowing to respond to North Korean threats with “fire and fury.”

The president’s retweets about his rhetoric Tuesday come as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson was urging calm. Tillerson said Wednesday as he returned from an Asia trip he doesn’t believe there is “any imminent threat.”

Trump and North Korea have been exchanging escalating threats, with the North saying it was examining plans for attacking Guam. But Tillerson told reporters that nothing he’s seen or knows of in the last day dramatically changed the situation.

The European Union says it’s concerned about tensions over North Korea and that the standoff can only be resolved by peaceful means, as a word of words escalates between Washington and Pyongyang.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini’s spokeswoman said Wednesday that the developments are “of great concern to the EU.”

Spokeswoman Catherine Ray says “a lasting peace and denuclearization of the Korean peninsula must be achieved through peaceful means.”

Ray says that for Mogherini, “that excludes military action.”

Ray also says Pyongyang “must comply without delay fully and unconditionally with its obligations” under U.N. Security Council resolutions.

The German government has expressed concern over what is described as the “rhetorical escalation” between the United States and North Korea over Pyongyang’s nuclear program.

A Foreign Ministry spokesman says “further saber rattling” and military measure won’t help solve the issue.

Martin Schaefer told reporters in Berlin on Wednesday that Germany “calls on all parties to show restraint.”

Schaefer says it’s important for recently tightened U.N. Security Council sanctions against North Korea to be implemented.

He says Germany backs a proposal by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson for talks with North Korea provided the Asian nation if it stops further missile tests.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says he doesn’t think a new diplomatic strategy for North Korea is warranted.

Tillerson is speaking after President Donald Trump and North Korea exchanged threats that have raised concerns about a potential military confrontation. North Korea’s army said it was studying a plan to create an “enveloping fire” in areas around Guam

But Tillerson says the current U.S. strategy is working.

Tillerson is pointing to new pressure the world is putting on North Korea, including sweeping new U.N. sanctions that the United States orchestrated. He says “the pressure is starting to show.” Tillerson says he believes that’s why North Korea’s rhetoric is becoming louder and more threatening.

Tillerson says North Korea still has a way out in the form of negotiations, under the right conditions.

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says President Donald Trump threatened North Korea to send a strong message “in language that Kim Jong Un can understand.”

Trump on Tuesday threatened “fire and fury” if North Korea made more threats to the U.S. And North Korea’s military said it was examining plans for attacking Guam.

But Tillerson says North Korea’s rhetoric is simply getting louder and more threatening because of new international pressure. He says Trump delivered the message the way he did because the North Korean leader “doesn’t seem to understand diplomatic language.”

Tillerson says Trump wanted to make clear to North Korea that the U.S. has the “unquestionable ability to defend itself” and will protect itself and its allies. He says Trump want to “avoid any miscalculation” by Pyongyang.

New Zealand Prime Minister Bill English says President Donald Trump’s comments about North Korea are “not helpful” in an environment that is “very tense.”

English says Trump’s comments are more likely to escalate the situation than to settle it.

Trump has vowed to answer North Korea “with fire and fury” if Pyongyang continued to threaten the U.S, after the North’s military has claimed it was examining plans for attacking the U.S. territory of Guam in the Pacific.

English says all countries want to avoid military confrontation and the way for that to happen is for North Korea to comply with U.N. sanctions and for international pressure to push the nation in that direction.

English told reporters Wednesday at the nation’s Parliament in Wellington that New Zealand has not raised concerns with the U.S. administration about Trump’s remarks, but would if his tone continued.</s>The threat comes just hours after US President Donald Trump warned Pyongyang that if they continued to threaten the US, they would "face fire and fury like the world has never seen."

Dubbed the "Tip of the Spear," Guam is a key to the US military's forward deployed presence in the Pacific and is home to thousands of American service members and their families.

The statement from a spokesman from the Strategic Force of the Korean People's Army, warned that recent US military maneuvers —including an intercontinental ballistic missile test last week and a bomber flight on Monday -- "may provoke a dangerous conflict."

Specifically, the statement mentioned a potential strike on "Anderson Air Force Base in which the US strategic bombers, which get on the nerves of the DPRK and threaten and blackmail it through their frequent visits to the sky above south Korea, are stationed and to send a serious warning signal to the US."

The US flew two B1B bombers over the Korean peninsula on Monday, according to a spokesman with Pacific Air Forces. The bombers flew out of Anderson AFB in Guam on Monday as part of its "continuous bomber presence", according to the spokesman. The bombers were joined by Japanese and South Korean aircraft. The North Korean statement on Guam references this action. This was before Trump's warning to North Korea on Tuesday.</s>(Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File). FILE - In this July 28, 2017, file photo distributed by the North Korean government, shows what was said to be the launch of a Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile at an undisclosed...

(Korean Central News Agency/Korea News Service via AP, File). FILE - This file photo distributed by the North Korean government shows what was said to be the launch of a Hwasong-14 intercontinental ballistic missile, ICBM, in North Korea's northwest, T...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Latest on North Korea's nuclear and missile programs (all times local):

Elected officials in Guam are reassuring constituents that the U.S. territory is safe following North Korea's claim that it is examining its plan for "making an enveloping fire" around the strategically important Pacific island.

Governor Eddie Baza Calvo said Wednesday there is no threat to Guam or to the Mariana Islands to the north. He adds that he will continue discussions with Joint Region Marianas Commander Rear Admiral Shoshana Chatfield to discuss military and first-responder readiness, to ensure that Guam is "prepared for any eventuality."

Guam Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo issued a statement saying Pentagon officials have assured her that the territory is protected.

Bordallo was critical of President Donald Trump's vow Tuesday to answer North Korea "with fire and fury like the world has never seen" if Pyongyang continues to threaten the U.S. She urged Trump to work with the international community to de-escalate tensions.

A nuclear expert who has repeatedly visited North Korea's nuclear facilities says he doubts the country is yet capable of attacking the U.S. territory of Guam with medium- to long-range missiles. He says escalating rhetoric from both the North and the U.S. is the real danger.

The North said Wednesday it is examining its plan for "making an enveloping fire" around Guam, a Pacific island that is home to major U.S. military bases.

Siegfried Hecker, a professor at Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation, said Tuesday night in the U.S. that although the North tested two intercontinental ballistic missiles last month, developing a nuclear warhead for such a missile is "extremely challenging and still beyond North Korea's reach."

Hecker says the real threat is "stumbling into an inadvertent nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula by misunderstanding or miscalculation." He adds, "Inflammatory rhetoric on both sides will make that more likely."

Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says North Korea is reckless, provocative, dangerous and a threat to peace.

Turnbull's comments on Wednesday come after North Korea said it is examining its operational plans for attacking Guam to contain U.S. bases there.

The prime minister said of North Korea's regime: "Its conduct is illegal, it's reckless, it's provocative, it's dangerous. And it threatens the peace of the region, the peace of the world."

Turnbull says a conflict with North Korea would be shattering and have "catastrophic consequences." The prime minister says the global community is united in seeking to impose the maximum economic pressure on North Korea "to bring them to their senses without conflict."

Security and defense officials on Guam say there is no imminent threat to people there or in the Northern Mariana Islands after North Korea said it was examining its operational plans for attack.

Guam's Department of Homeland Security and Office of Civil Defense say they are monitoring North Korea with U.S. military and government officials.

Guam's Homeland Security Adviser George Charfauros says officials there are confident "the U.S. Department of Defense is monitoring this situation very closely and is maintaining a condition of readiness."

Charfauros in his statement Wednesday morning urged calm and said defenses are in place on Guam and its neighboring Pacific islands for threats such as North Korea.

The speaker of the Guam Legislature says he hopes the island can defend itself in the event of an attack from North Korea.

Benjamin J. Cruz tells The Associated Press in a telephone interview, "We're just praying that the United States and the ... defense system we have here is sufficient enough to protect us."

North Korea says it is examining its operational plans for attacking Guam to contain U.S. bases there.

Cruz calls the threat "very disconcerting," saying, "It forces us to pause and to say a prayer for the safety of our people."

Rena Chang, who owns a hair salon in the tourist area of Tumon, says: "That's so scary. My heart is pumping right now."

North Korea says it is examining its operational plans for attacking Guam to contain U.S. bases there.

The army said in a statement distributed Wednesday by the state-run news agency that it is studying a plan to create an "enveloping fire" in areas around Guam with medium- to long-range ballistic missiles. The U.S. territory is home to Andersen Air Force Base.

The statement says the move is in response to a recent U.S. ICBM test.

It comes as President Donald Trump says North Korea "will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen" if it makes any more threats to the U.S.

A Japanese defense paper and a U.S. media report Tuesday said North Korea may have successfully produced a miniaturized nuclear warhead that can fit inside its missiles.

Republican Sen. John McCain says "great leaders" don't threaten foes unless they're ready to act - and he's not certain President Donald Trump is ready to act against North Korea.

McCain, who heads the Armed Services Committee, made the comments Tuesday in an interview on KTAR News in Phoenix.

He is responding to Trump's warning that North Korea could face "fire and fury" if it threatens the United States after a new report said U.S. intelligence officials believe Pyongyang has successfully produced a nuclear warhead that can fit inside its missiles.

McCain says he takes exception to Trump's comments "because you got to be sure you can do what you say you're going to do."

President Donald Trump says that North Korea "had best not make any more threats to the United States" or "they will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen."

Trump issued the warning during a briefing on opioid addiction at his golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey.

A Japanese defense paper and a U.S. media report said Tuesday that North Korea may have successfully produced a miniaturized nuclear warhead that can fit inside its missiles.

That's a key benchmark in the country's attempt to become a full-fledged nuclear power.

Washington's alarm over North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's pursuit of a nuclear capability has intensified in the past month after the North conducted two tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles last month.

The Washington Post is reporting that U.S. intelligence officials assess that North Korea has successfully produced a miniaturized nuclear warhead that can fit inside its missiles.

That would mean North Korea has passed a crucial threshold on the path to becoming a full-fledged nuclear power.

The Post story, citing unnamed U.S. intelligence officials, said the confidential analysis was completed last month by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency.

Officials at the agency would not comment Tuesday. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence could not immediately be reached for comment.

Separately, Japan's defense ministry assessed in a report Tuesday that it is possible that North Korea has achieved the miniaturization of nuclear weapons and has developed nuclear warheads.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Hours after Trump made this remark, North Korea says it is "carefully examining" a missile strike against United States territory of Guam.