World will not tolerate North Korea's 'nuclear blackmail', says Trump

US President Donald Trump has warned North Korea that the world will not tolerate what he called its "nuclear blackmail," vowing an international campaign of "maximum pressure" on Pyongyang, including by China.

"I made clear that we will not allow this twisted dictatorship to hold the world hostage to nuclear blackmail," Trump said in a televised statement a day after returning from his marathon trip to Asia.

Trump said Chinese leader Xi Jinping had pledged to use Beijing's economic leverage over Pyongyang to achieve denuclearization in the North.

"President Xi recognizes that North Korea is a great threat to China," the US leader said.

During his recent trip to China, Trump said Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to faithfully implement United Nations Security Council resolutions on North Korea and to use his great economic influence over the regime to achieve their common goal of a denuclearised Korean Peninsula.

"President Xi recognises that a nuclear North Korea is a grave threat to China, and we agreed that we would not accept a so-called "freeze for freeze" agreement like those that have consistently failed in the past. We made that time is running out and we made it clear, and all options remain on the table," Trump said.
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