Two US bombers have been flown over the Korean Peninsula in a show of force after North Korea's latest missile test.
The supersonic B-1 bombers took off from an airbase in Guam and were joined by Japanese and South Korean fighter jets, performing a low-pass near Seoul.
The manoeuvre came in response to an intercontinental ballistic missile test by Kim Jong Un's regime, which experts say now puts several major US cities in firing range.
"North Korea remains the most urgent threat to regional stability," said General Terrence J O'Shaughnessy, Pacific Air Forces commander.
"Diplomacy remains the lead," he said, but added: "If called upon, we are ready to respond with rapid, lethal, and overwhelming force at a time and place of our choosing."
UK Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson made a similar vow that Britain would stand by its ally in the face of the latest threat.
He said: "The UK strongly condemns North Korea's second test of an intercontinental ballistic missile and calls on the regime to immediately stop all activity that breaches UN Security Council resolutions.
"The UK will stand alongside our allies and partners as we confront the growing threat North Korea poses to regional and international security. Once again North Korea shows no regard for its international obligations.
"We urge the DPRK regime to put the well-being of its own people ahead of the illegal pursuit of nuclear and ballistic missile programmes."
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, who personally supervised the launch of the missile on Friday night, said it served as a "stern warning" for the US.
It is the second ICBM launch in less than a month by the North, despite international efforts to curb the development of missile technology by the nuclear-armed authoritarian state.
US President Donald Trump said: "By threatening the world, these weapons and tests further isolate North Korea, weaken its economy, and deprive its people.
"The United States will take all necessary steps to ensure the security of the American homeland and protect our allies in the region."
The US military will also roll out "strategic assets" to the South, Seoul's defence minister said.
It follows the deployment in South Korea of the US missile defence system known as THAAD, which has angered China.
Beijing's ministry of foreign affairs said in a statement on Saturday: "China expresses serious concern about the actions of the Republic of Korea.
"China's resolute opposition to the deployment by the USA of the THAAD system in South Korea is consistent and clear.
"The THAAD system deployment cannot solve South Korea's security concerns, neither can it solve the problems facing the Korean peninsula.
"It will only make these problems more complicated."
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