North Korea's foreign minister has accused US President Donald Trump of having "lit the wick of war" between the secretive regime and the US. Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho added that the US would be forced to pay with "a hail of fire".

The comments by the foreign minister are the latest in increasingly hostile remarks between Trump and Kim Jong-un's regime.

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"With his bellicose and insane statement at the United Nations, Trump, you can say, has lit the wick of a war against us," Russia's TASS news agency quoted Ri Yong Ho as saying. "We need to settle the final score, only with a hail of fire, not words."

In September at the United Nations, Trump claimed the US would "totally destroy North Korea" if the US was forced to defend itself or its allies.

Trump said that while the US has "great strength and patience," the options for dealing with North Korea were running out, The Independent reported. The US president also mocked North Korea's leader as "little rocket man". The war of words between the two nations has since escalated.

"We have almost reached the last point on the journey towards our final goal - to achieve a real balance of power with the United States," Ri said. "Our principal position is that we will never agree to any talks in which our nuclear weapons will be the subject of negotiations."

According to The Independent, several members of Congress have criticised Trump's "belligerent" rhetoric towards North Korea. On Sunday (8 October), Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn) said Trump was treating his office like "a reality show" and that his reckless threats could push the US "on the path to World War III".

"He concerns me," Corker told The New York Times. "He would have to concern anyone who cares about our nation."

Meanwhile, North Korea has told Russia is preparing to test another intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that "according to their calculations, must be capable of hitting the US West Coast".

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