North Korea Vows To KEEP Nuclear Weapons In Huge Blow To Trump As WW3 Tensions Soar

NORTH Korea has no plans to scrap its nuclear arsenal in a huge blow to Donald Trump as tensions soar on the Korean peninsular.

A senior Russian official who met Kim Jong-un this weekend warned the North Korea dictator said he did not plan any unilateral steps to denuclearise.

Instead Kim is waiting for the United States to respond to steps he has already taken, Russia's RIA news agency reported.

Valentina Matvienko, a Kremlin loyalist and speaker of the upper house of Russia's parliament, met the North Korean leader in Pyongyang on Saturday.

Ms Matvienko said Kim was polite and diplomatic in his remarks about US President Donald Trump.

She also quoted Kim as saying he hoped for Russian backing in weakening US sanctions on North Korea amid fears of World War 3. 

Kim’s refusal to scrap his nuclear weapons comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin invites the dictator to Russia, according to Kremlin aide Yuri Ushakov.

The comments stand in stark contrast to North Korea’s recent claims of denuclearisation following Kim's meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in and summits with Mr Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

For the third time this year, Kim and Moon will meet in Pyongyang on September 18-20 discuss "practical measures" towards denuclearisation, officials in Seoul have said.

The North Korean leader and Mr Trump appeared to strike a deal to denuclearise the Korena peninsula earlier this year.

But Kim has stalled on his promise to destroy his nuclear launch site sparking fears of new missile tests.

North Korea watchdog 38 North said commercial satellite imagery of the Sohae Satellite Launching Station in August suggested no dismantlement has taken place at either the launch pad or engine test stand.

As North Korea displayed its military power in a show of force this weekend to mark the founding of the nation, in Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, eyeing an historic extended term, reaffirmed his resolve to revise the nation's post-war, pacifist constitution and said he hoped his party could submit a proposal to parliament later this year.

Article 9 of the constitution, if taken literally, bans maintenance of armed forces but it has been interpreted to allow a military for self-defence.

Abe wants to add a reference to the Self-Defense Forces, as Japan's military is known, to clarify their status.

 - KATIE MANSFIELD