North Korea BLAST crippling Donald Trump naval blockade as 'official ACT OF WAR'

The US Coast Guard could be deployed to stop and search vessels in Asia-Pacific waters with key Asian allies in a co–ordinated effort to halt Pyongyang’s use of seagoing trade to feed its nuclear missile program, senior US officials said.

While suspect ships have been intercepted before, the emerging strategy would expand the scope of such operations but stop short of imposing a naval blockade on North Korea.

North Korea has warned it would consider a blockade an act of war.

A senior Trump administration official said: “There is no doubt we all have to do more, short of direct military action, to show North Korean leader Kim Jong Un we mean business.”

The strategy calls for closer tracking and possible seizure of ships suspected of carrying banned weapons components and other prohibited cargo to or from North Korea, according to the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Officials claim that depending on the scale of the campaign, the US could consider beefing up the naval and air power of its Pacific Command.

Washington is especially interested in detecting of ship-to-ship transfers at sea of banned goods, something North Korea has increasingly resorted to as vessels have faced greater scrutiny of their cargo in Asian ports.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told reporters in Washington on Friday the United States does not rule out boarding ships for inspections.

Although such measures could lead to a full blown conflict and some US officials believe the risk could be minimised if Coast Guard cutters, which carry less firepower and technically engage in law-enforcement missions, are used in certain cases rather than warships.

Experts fear that North Korea may be only a few months away from completing the development of a nuclear-tipped missile which would be capable of hitting the US mainland, despite existing international sanctions that have been sidestepped by smuggling and ship-to-ship transfers at sea of banned goods.

North Korea provoked ferocious condemnation last year when it carried out several missile launches and nuclear tests.

China and Russia, which have blocked US efforts at the United Nations to win approval for use of force in North Korea interdiction operations, are likely to oppose new actions if they see the United States as overstepping.

A Chinese official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said such steps should only be taken under UN auspices.

David Shear, former deputy secretary of defence for Asia under President Barack Obama, said: “It’s probably impossible to stop everything, but you can raise the cost to North Korea.”

Yesterday Trump again promised economic warfare by promising the “largest ever” raft of sanctions on the hermit state.

But this evening he again returned to a more aggressive stance, warning North Korea to respond sensibly to sanctions or face “phase two”.

Mr Trump did not specify what this meant but his response implied a forceful response which moved beyond economic sanctions.