WASHINGTON, Jan 3 — US Defence Secretary Mark Esper yesterday said the United States still sees a political agreement on denuclearisation as the best path forward on North Korea, but that American forces remained prepared to fight if necessary.

“We would urge restraint by Kim Jong-un,” Esper said in an interview on Fox News.

North Korean leader Kim said this week that there were no longer grounds for Pyongyang to be bound by a self-declared moratorium on intercontinental ballistic missile and nuclear bomb testing and that a “new strategic weapon” would be introduced in the near future.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there were no indications that North Korea was preparing for an imminent long-range missile test.

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The official said the assessment after Kim's speech was that North Korea believes it does not have to rush to test an intercontinental ballistic missile, though shorter-range missile or engine tests could be possible at any time.

US President Donald Trump — who in 2018 became the first American leader to meet with a North Korean leader - said after Kim's remarks that the North Korean leader had signed a denuclearization contract and Trump thought Kim was a “man of his word.”

Last month, Pyongyang warned Washington of a possible “Christmas gift” after Kim gave the United States until the end of the year to propose new concessions in talks over his country's nuclear arsenal.

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Speaking with reporters yesterday, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley said that the alert status of American forces was at a sufficient level to respond to anything that happens and military defensive capabilities were adequate to defend the United States. — Reuters