Washington labels North Korea war claims 'absurd'

The White House has responded to claims from North Korea that it had made a declaration of war by branding the accusations as "absurd".

Tensions have been rising in recent weeks between the two nations, with Pyongyang’s foreign minister saying on Monday that Donald Trump’s comments during and after last week’s UN General Assembly amounted to a "declaration of war".

South Korea on Tuesday called for a decrease in the war of words between the US and North Korea in order to prevent the situation getting out of control.

“We have not declared war on North Korea, and frankly the suggestion of that is absurd,” said administration spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders.

Ri Yong-ho had said that Kim Jong-un’s regime was prepared to shoot down US aircraft outside of its airspace in response to Trump’s actions.

“It’s never appropriate for a country to shoot down another country’s aircraft when it’s over international waters,” Sanders added.

Seoul’s foreign minister Kang Kyung-wha called for calm during comments made in Washington on Monday.

"It is very likely that North Korea will conduct further provocations," Kang said.

"It is imperative that we, Korea and the US together, manage the situation... in order to prevent further escalation of tensions or any kind of accidental military clashes which can quickly go out of control."

Wall Street stocks dropped significantly following Ri’s comments, with tech stocks worst hit. The Nasdaq was down 0.88%, while the Dow Jones and the S&P 500 also saw selling in the immediate aftermath.