China has done 'nothing'

♦ US FLIES BOMBERS OVER KOREAN PENINSULA

♦ N KOREA WARNS 'RESOLUTE ACT OF JUSTICE' FOR MORE US SANCTIONS

US President Donald Trump warned Saturday that he would not allow China to "do nothing" on North Korea, after the hermit state launched an intercontinental ballistic missile it boasted could reach the United States.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un boasted of his country's ability to strike any target in the US after the ICBM test that weapons experts said could even bring New York into range -- in a major challenge to Trump.

Under Kim's leadership, North Korea has accelerated its drive towards a credible nuclear strike capability, in defiance of international condemnation and multiple sets of UN sanctions.

In his critique of Beijing, which came in two tweets, Trump linked trade strains with the Asian giant -- marked by a trade deficit of $309 billion last year -- to policy on North Korea, after South Korea indicated it was speeding the deployment of a US missile defense system that has infuriated China, reported AFP.

"I am very disappointed in China. Our foolish past leaders have allowed them to make hundreds of billions of dollars a year in trade, yet they do NOTHING for us with North Korea, just talk," Trump wrote.

"We will no longer allow this to continue. China could easily solve this problem!"

North Korea said yesterday it had been forced to develop long-range missiles and nuclear weapons because of hostile intent by "American imperialist beasts" looking for another chance to invade the country, reported Reuters.

"In case the US fails to come to its own senses and continues to resort to military adventure and 'tough sanctions', the DPRK will respond with its resolute act of justice as already declared," its foreign ministry said in a statement.

Meanwhile, US flew two supersonic B-1B bombers over the Korean peninsula in a show of force yesterday after Pyongyang's recent tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM), the US and South Korean Air Forces said.

The B-1B flight was in direct response to the missile test and the previous July 3 launch of the "Hwansong-14" rocket, the US statement said. The South Korean air force said the flight was conducted early yesterday.

The bombers took off from a US air base in Guam, and were joined by Japanese and South Korean fighter jets during the exercise, according to the statement.

"North Korea remains the most urgent threat to regional stability," Pacific Air Forces commander General Terrence J. O'Shaughnessy said in the statement.