World War 3: Top US chiefs to visit North Korean border to fire ominous warning to Kim

Senior military officials from the North, South and US will stand metres apart from one another in the Korean peninsula’s Demilitarised Zone, known as the 38th Parallel, during a visit to the Joint Security Area on Friday.

With Kim’s henchmen just a few feet away, Mr Mattis and Mr Song intend to read a statement urging the country to end its nuclear programme and repeated provocations. 

The following day, the two men will hold the 49th Security Consultative Meeting between Washington and Seoul defence chiefs, Yonhap reported.

The two allies will discuss the future of their alliance, forged during the 1950-53 Korean War, as well as in depth talks about Pyongyang’s increasingly incendiary threats.

Plans to expand the deployment of US weaponry including aircraft carriers bombers and submarines will also be discussed. 

The trip to the border comes after a senior diplomat from Pyongyang today said warnings of a possible atmospheric nuclear test over the Pacific Ocean should be taken “literally”. 

The official told CNN the threat by the hermit state’s despot Kim Jong-un should not be taken lightly. 

Ri Yong Pil said the foreign ministry was aware of plans for a launch and urged Washington to prepare itself. 

North Korea has conducted six nuclear tests in its history, with half taking place in the last 21 months.

Last month North Korea’s foreign minister Ri Yong Ho said Pyongyang was considering “the most powerful detonation” of a hydrogen bomb over the Pacific Ocean. 

Ri Yong Pil said: “The foreign minister is very well aware of the intentions of our supreme leader, so I think you should take his words literally.”