With its test this week of a powerful intercontinental missile, North Korea has shown that it probably could strike the United States with a nuclear weapon.
"The bottom line is," said U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis, "it's a continued effort to build a threat, a ballistic missile threat that endangers world peace, regional peace and certainly the United States."
Sen. Lindsey Graham, the influential Republican from South Carolina, said war is now a very real possibility, Time magazine reported.
"If we have to go to war to stop this, we will," Graham told CNN on Tuesday, referring to the impoverished rogue state's nuclear-weapons capability. "If there's a war with North Korea it will be because North Korea brought it on itself, and we're headed to a war if things don't change."
He added:
"I don't want a war. The president doesn't want a war. But we're not going to let this crazy man in North Korea have the capability to hit the homeland."
South Korean President Moon Jae-in also warned of dire consequences if North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un pushes ahead with his country's weapons programs.
"If North Korea completes a ballistic missile that could reach from one continent to another, the situation can spiral out of control," Moon said.
When asked about the latest North Korean missile test, President Donald Trump responded, "It is a situation that we will handle."
He later tweeted:
"Just spoke to President XI JINPING of China concerning the provocative actions of North Korea. Additional major sanctions will be imposed on North Korea today. This situation will be handled!"
-- Douglas Perry