(AFP) Beijing, Aug. 9: President Trump's threat to unleash "fire and fury" against North Korea sent a shudder through Asia today, raising alarm among allies and adversaries and, to some observers, making the possibility of military conflict over the North's nuclear programme seem more real. Officials in South Korea and Japan said that while the situation was tense, it had not reached a crisis point. "We're going to see a confrontation between the United States and North Korea that will be ferocious and strong and bloody," said Cheng Xiaohe, an associate professor of international relations at Renmin University of China in Beijing. He called Trump's language "explosive", and said the threat and counterthreat had resulted in a new stage of confrontation. He unnerves people in South Korea, few of whom want war in Korea."

Source: The Telegraph August 09, 2017 21:45 UTC