North Korea v USA LIVE: Kim Jong-un launches missile, Trump plots sanctions – latest news

Sunday, May 28

4.50pm: The US Defence Secretary James Mattis has said that a war with North Korea would be “catastrophic”.

“A conflict in North Korea would be probably the worst kind of fighting in most people’s lifetimes,” he told CBS News.

Mr Mattis said that North Korea is a “direct threat to the United States” and poses a huge risk to neighbouring countries such as Japan, China and Russia.

“But the bottom line is it would be a catastrophic war if this turns into a combat if we’re not able to resolve this situation through diplomatic means,” he added.

Speaking about Kim Jong-un’s rogue weapons programme, he said that the the Trump administration is assuming that “with a testing program they get better with each test”.

“They have been very clear in their rhetoric we don’t have to wait until they have an intercontinental ballistic missile with a nuclear weapon on it to say that now it’s manifested completely,” he added.

2.00pm: North Korea’s state broadcast KCTV has aired footage of Kim Jong-un’s latest missile test.

The clip shows a high-powered missile launch from a deserted wasteland as Kim looks on.

Donald Trump failed to comment on the test in his latest round of tweets, instead focusing on his “fake news” agenda.

9.00am: North Korean state media has issued an update on this morning’s photos of Kim Jong-un witnessing a missile launch.

KCNA said that the exercise tested “a new type of anti-aircraft guided weapon”.

It claimed that defects formerly present in the system have now been corrected, however experts have cast doubt on the rogue nation’s claims.

“North Korea tested the new-type anti-aircraft guided weapons system and suggested that they can even hit the stealth aircraft and ballistic missiles, but I think this is exaggeration given their level of technology at this point,” Yang Uk, a North Korean expert at advisory committee for the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff, told NBC News.

7.00am: Fears that North Korea could be developing a new missile system have been raised, after the secretive state’s official media agency released new images of Kim Jong-un observing a test launch.

Kim is shown holding binoculars in the photos, and is surrounded by army officials.

The move comes just hours after the Pentagon announced that it will launch a first-of-its kind missile interception test on Tuesday.

US military personnel will launch a custom missile meant to simulate an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which it will then attempt to shoot down.

The exercise is not a direct response to the North Korean threat, Christopher Johnson, spokesman for the US Missile Defense Agency claimed.

“We conduct increasingly complex test scenarios as the programme matures and advances,” Mr Johnson said.

“Testing against an ICBM-type threat is the next step in that process.”

Yesterday, the G7 agreed to increase pressure and sanctions on North Korea.

Speaking at the summit in Sicily, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that “the threat has entered a new stage” and noted that today represents the first time that the G7 has recognised North Korea as a priority issue.

He added: “There is a danger that can spread like a contagious disease.”

It has also been reported that a third US Navy aircraft carrier will be deployed to the Western Pacific Ocean.

The USS Nimitz will join the USS Ronald Reagan and the USS Carl Vinson, which are currently stationed near to the Korean Peninsula.