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		</div><p>Senior US national security officials have said a military confrontation with North Korea is not imminent, but they cautioned that the possibility of war is greater than it was a decade ago.</p>
<p>CIA director Mike Pompeo and HR McMaster, Donald Trump&#8217;s national security adviser, tried to provide assurances that a conflict is avoidable, while also supporting the president&#8217;s tough talk.</p>
<p>They said the United States and its allies can no longer afford to stand by as North Korea pushes ahead with the development of a nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile.</p>
<p><i>&#8220;We&#8217;re not closer to war than a week ago but we are closer to war than we were a decade ago,&#8221;</i> Mr McMaster said, adding that the Trump administration is prepared to deal militarily with North Korea if necessary.</p>
<p>But he stressed the US is pursuing &#8220;a very determined diplomatic effort&#8221; led by Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that is coupled with new financial sanctions to dissuade North Korean leader Kim Jong Un from further provocations.</p>
<p><i>&#8220;The US military is locked and loaded every day,&#8221;</i> Mr McMaster said, repeating Mr Trump&#8217;s threat.</p>
<p>Mr Pompeo said &#8220;there&#8217;s nothing imminent today&#8221;, in response to a question about how worried people should be over the escalating tensions.</p>
<p>He said the US has a &#8220;pretty good idea&#8221; of North Korea&#8217;s intentions, but he declined to provide specifics.</p>
<p>The CIA chief described Mr Kim as &#8220;rational&#8221; and responsive to &#8220;adverse circumstances&#8221;.</p>
<p>He added: <i>&#8220;The reaction in North Korea that we are intending to get is an understanding that America is no longer going to have the strategic patience that it&#8217;s had that has permitted him to continue to develop his weapons programme. It&#8217;s that straightforward.&#8221;</i></p>
<p>Meanwhile, top US military officer General Joseph Dunford is in Asia and is expected to meet with leaders in South Korea, Japan and China.</p>
<p>Gen Dunford, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters travelling with him that he aims to &#8220;sense what the temperature is in the region&#8221;.</p>
<p>He also will discuss military options in the event the &#8220;diplomatic and economic pressurization campaign&#8221; fails.</p>
<p><i>&#8220;We&#8217;re all looking to get out of this situation without a war,&#8221;</i> he added.</p>
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