THE risk of a devastating war on the Korean peninsula continues to rise as US Vice-President Mike Pence made an unannounced trip to the demilitarised zone.

A few hundred feet from North Korean border guards Mr Pence declared yesterday that the “era of strategic patience” was over.

The vice-president referenced the recent illegal US air strikes against Syria and added pointedly: “North Korea would do well not to test [President Donald Trump’s] resolve.”