Pence mixes sabre rattling and sport in landmark trip

US Vice-President Mike Pence will attend the Winter Olympics opening ceremony on Friday after a three-day tour of Japan. In what has been his latest prominent trip as a US global ambassador, he has echoed his boss Donald Trump's deafening message last week that "we have no road left" on the Korean nuclear stand-off.

In Japan, the US vice-president discussed how best to press Pyongyang to abandon its nuclear and missile development programmes. And the trip - which followed a call between Mr Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe last week which agreed "on the need to intensify the international maximum pressure campaign to denuclearise North Korea" - comes at a time of US administration disagreements over a pre-emptive strike against North Korea.

Mr Trump's state of the union address last week ratcheted up the rhetoric noting that Pyonyang's "reckless pursuit of nuclear missiles could soon threaten our homeland. . .past experience has taught us that complacency and concessions only invite aggression and provocation. I will not repeat the mistakes of past administrations that got us into this dangerous position". Yet, some key US military leaders - including chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General John Dunford, Defence Secretary James Mattis, and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson have all reportedly expressed concern about a pre-emptive strike.