US President Donald Trump speaks before a meeting with first responders to the I-85 fire in Atlanta at the White House April 13, 2017 in Washington, DC. Brendan Smialowski / AFP
US President Donald Trump issued a fresh warning to North Korea Thursday, as speculation mounted that Pyongyang may be preparing another nuclear or missile test.
“North Korea is a problem, the problem will be taken care of,” Trump said defiantly, amid reports of activity at a North Korean nuclear test site ahead of Saturday’s 105th anniversary of the birth of the country’s founder Kim Il-Sung.
Trump has repeatedly said he will prevent Pyongyang from developing a nuclear-tipped missile capable of reaching the United States.
The US recently deployed a naval strike group to the region as a show of strength.
Earlier Thursday, the US military dropped the largest non-nuclear bomb ever deployed in combat at targets in Afghanistan.
Trump played down suggestions that it was also intended as a warning to Pyongyang.
“I don’t know if this sends a message to North Korea. It doesn’t make any difference if it does or not,” he said.
