Guam

Beyond the bluster, the Trump administration has been quietly engaged in back channel diplomacy with North Korea for several months, addressing Americans imprisoned in the communist country and deteriorating relations between the long-time foes, The Associated Press has learned.

The US reportedly has a plan for a preemptive strike on North Korean missile sites with bombers stationed in Guam, should Donald Trump order it. It is apparently viewed as "the best of all bad options" amid mounting tensions between the states.

North Korea said on Saturday that nearly 3.5 million workers, party members and soldiers volunteered to join or rejoin its army to resist new U.N. sanctions and to fight against the United States in the current geopolitical tension between Pyongyang and Washington, Reuers reported.

US President Donald Trump called the leader of China and spoke with the governor of Guam on Friday amid mounting tensions with North Korea. Trump also said he is considering "very strong" new sanctions against Pyongyang.

China "should make it clear" it will stay neutral if North Korea launches missiles that threaten US soil first and the US retaliates, says China's Global Times.

U.S. President Donald Trump has hardened his warning that North Korea would face "fire and fury" if it kept threatening the U.S., saying maybe that tough talk "wasn't tough enough."

China should remain neutral if North Korea launches an attack that threatens the United States, a Chinese state-run newspaper said on Friday, sounding a warning for Pyongyang over its plans to fire missiles near the US Pacific territory of Guam, The Independent reported. 

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has declared Australia would invoke the ANZUS security treaty for only the second time in its history in response to any attack by North Korea against the United States, The Sydney Morning Herald writes.

North Korea dismissed warnings by U.S. President Donald Trump that it would face "fire and fury" if it threatened the United States as a "load of nonsense" and outlined detailed plans on for a missile strike near the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam.

South Korea's military said on Thursday North Korea's recent statements regarding striking the U.S. territory of Guam are a challenge against Seoul and the U.S.-South Korea alliance, Reuters.