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WARSAW, Poland - President Donald Trump promised Thursday to "confront very strongly" the issue of North Korea's "very, very bad behavior" in test-launching missiles.

"I have some pretty severe things that we're thinking about," he told reporters in Poland where he was making an official visit ahead of the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany.

North Korea test-fired its first intercontinental ballistic missile Tuesday, marking a significant step forward in its weapons program and an escalation of a nuclear standoff with the U.S.

"I think we'll just take a look at what happens over the coming weeks and months. It's a shame that they're behaving this way," Trump said. "Something will have to be done."

Trump added: "I don't draw red lines," repeating his criticism of President Barack Obama's stance over Syria and chemical weapons.
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His comments came ahead of a planned address to the Polish people Thursday in Krasinski Square in which he was expected to commemorate Poland's bravery during World War II while calling for allies to confront today's challenges with the same courage.

Asked to unequivocally call out Russia for meddling in the 2016 presidential election, the president reiterated that "other countries" could also be to blame.

Related: Trump Faces 'Uncomfortable Conversations' With World Leaders

"Nobody really knows for sure," Trump said, just one day before a planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. This has been "happening a long time," Trump said without elaborating, immediately pivoting to attacking Obama for his lack of action.

"Why did he do nothing about it?" he wondered before answering his own question: "The reason is he thought Hillary was going to win."

White House officials have not stated whether or not Trump plans to bring up Russia's role in the 2016 election.

Trump held talks with Duda in Warsaw's Royal Castle after meeting and shaking hands in front of cameras.
Alastair Jamieson reported from London.
More from NBC news:
Trump Slams 'Brutal' North Korea, Says 'Era of Strategic Patience' Is Over
Trump, Japanese Leader to Increase Pressure on North Korea
Nikki Haley: Chance for Diplomatic Solution on North Korea 'Quickly Closing'

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Donald Trump: US will 'confront' North Korea's 'very bad behavior'

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WARSAW, Poland - President Donald Trump promised Thursday to "confront very strongly" the issue of North Korea's "very, very bad behavior" in test-launching missiles. "I have some pretty severe things that we're thinking about," he told reporters in Poland where he was making an official visit ahead of the G-20 summit in Hamburg, Germany.

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noah's emotional response to philando shooting - cnn video

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Noah's emotional response to Philando shooting - CNN Video

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"The Daily Show" host Trevor Noah gave an emotional response on the verdict of the Philando Castile shooting case.

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While China and Russia have called for concessions on both sides, the US so far has made no public move to open talks, instead opting to engage in a renewed military show of force with its South Korean ally.

North Korea announced Tuesday it had successfully tested an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), which state media said had reached an altitude of 2,802 kilometers (1,741 miles), its highest ever missile test.

State media in Pyongyang said North Korea now had the power to now strike the American mainland with a nuclear warhead. While experts caution against taking North Korea's claims at face value, the Pentagon and South Korea's intelligence services have said they believed the missile was an ICBM.

Experts say that if the missile had had been fired on a normal trajectory instead of at a high altitude, it would have reached about 6,000 kilometers -- enough to put Alaska within range.

In a joint press statement issued by Russia and China, the two countries reiterated their call for North Korea to stop its missile and nuclear tests in exchange for the US and South Korea holding off on future large joint military drills.

However, within hours of the statement, the US and South Korea announced they had held a new ballistic missile drill to counter "North Korea's destabilizing and unlawful actions."

"(The drills) showcased precision targeting of the enemy's leadership in case of an emergency," a South Korean Defense Ministry statement said.

North Korea's latest test, and the accompanying bellicose claims, have rattled its allies as well as its enemies. But the contrasting responses expose the diplomatic divisions over how to deal with an increasingly aggressive North Korea.

Speaking alongside Chinese President Xi Jinping at a Moscow press conference Tuesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said both leaders wanted "peace and stability" on the Korean peninsula.

"It is very important to push forward our joint initiative on settling the Korean problem with a view of immediately freezing the ballistic missile strikes and also dealing with the US deployment of weapons in South Korea," he said.

Joe Cirincione, president of the Ploughshare Fund, an organization working to stop nuclear proliferation, told CNN North Korean officials had previously expressed willingness in unofficial two-party talks to pause their weapons programs if US and South Korean exercises were suspended.

South Korea has been a longterm ally of the United States since the two states fought together during the Korean War in the 1950s. Russia alongside China is one of the few nations to take the side of North Korea, calling for an end to US "intimidation" in May.

Tillerson: 'Global action' need to stop North Korea

The United States and South Korea regularly hold annual military drills in March and April which often provoke a fierce response from North Korea, often including missile launches and nuclear tests.

China first suggested a suspension of drills in exchange for North Korea's nuclear program in March, when Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the US and North Korea were set for a "head-on collision."

The latest United States and South Korea drills held Wednesday were designed to display both countries' own missile strength, Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said in a statement.

The night before the drills commenced,US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson described the ICBM test as a "new escalation," adding "global action" would be needed to stop North Korea

"As we, along with others, have made clear, we will never accept a nuclear-armed North Korea," he said.

Cirincione said while the US drills were "legitimate," it was important for the US administration to begin negotiations with the North Koreans.

"There is no military option here. Even a limited military strike could escalate to a major war ... (We should) have talks about talks with no preconditions. This is what China and Russia and South Korea and Japan are urging us to do," he said.

While South Korea joined in Wednesday's drills, new President Moon Jae-in has long advocated a policy of engagement with North Korea, rather than confrontation.

John Delury, an associate professor at the Yonsei University Graduate School of International Studies in Seoul, said the reactions showed the "fundamental differences" between the two sides.

But he added China had so few levers left to pull in Pyongyang, its influence over the next stage of negotiations would be heavily diminished.

"If Donald Trump and Moon Jae-in (want to talk to North Korea), the last avenue of approach that they should use is via Beijing," he said.

Delury said it wasn't unusual for the US to hold drills in the wake of a missile launch, and any diplomatic overtures to North Korea could take weeks or months.

No good options for US

Analysts told CNN there are very few good options for US President Donald Trump to deal with the North Korean threat.

"A really difficult question will be whether Donald Trump feels like he's (been) backed into a corner and doesn't have options short of war," Adam Mount, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, told CNN.

"I think what we'll have to grapple with in Washington is that none of our tactics, or our levers, mean the same thing anymore," Mount added.

On Tuesday night, US Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley called for an emergency session of the UN Security Council, which will be held on Wednesday afternoon.

Mount said although the Trump administration had repeatedly raised the possibility of negotiations, the US President could be unwilling to enter into long, messy negotiations.

"He likes simple, neat wins ... but there's no easy wins on the North Korean issue. Any agreement would be unsatisfying and prone to failure," he said.

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south korea conduct military exercise in response to north korea missile launch - cnn

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US, China divided over how to deal with new North Korean ICBM threat

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While China and Russia have called for concessions on both sides, the US so far has made no public move to open talks, instead opting to engage in a renewed military show of force with its South Korean ally.

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U.S. officials watched North Korea prepare for the Tuesday launch of its first successful intercontinental ballistic missile, a well-placed senior U.S. official told Fox News - however, no anti-missile defense systems appear to have been activated to shoot down the rocket.

The U.S. had watched North Korea fueling the rocket prior to launch, the official said.

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"Clearly we watch North Korea very closely," Pentagon spokesman Capt. Jeff Davis said.

The missile fired on Tuesday is a new type of North Korean ICBM, which has yet to be named. It uses liquid fuel - meaning the rocket takes more time to move and is less mobile than a missile that operates on solid fuel.

"Not one we have seen before," Davis said, adding the missile lifted off from an aircraft plant near Panghyon -- a location North Korea hadn't previously used for a launch.

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The ICBM was delivered to the launch site on a mobile flat-bed truck, but not launched from it. The distinction is important because a mobile-launcher is very difficult to detect and defend against.

Given the apparent advance notice enjoyed by U.S. officials, the Pentagon could have decided to try to shoot the ICBM down using the U.S. missile defense shield components in the region.

But because the missile wasn't a threat to North America, the U.S. declined to attempt to terminate the rocket, which flew 1,700 miles into space and was in flight for 37 minutes.

"Longest time of flight for any ballistic missile North Korea has launched to date," Davis said.

Even though the U.S. homeland may never have been in danger, however, there was plenty of peril posed by the North Korean ICBM.

U.S. and Japanese bases in Japan were well within range of the missile, and a Department of Defense official said it also flew "into busy airspace used by commercial airlines" and endangered shipping in the Sea of Japan because North Korea didn't coordinate the launch with any other countries.
Jennifer Griffin currently serves as a national security correspondent for FOX News Channel . She joined FNC in October 1999 as a Jerusalem-based correspondent. You can follow her on Twitter at @JenGriffinFNC.
Lucas Tomlinson is the Pentagon and State Department producer for Fox News Channel. You can follow him on Twitter: @LucasFoxNews

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US watched North Korea prepare for ICBM launch

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U.S. officials watched North Korea prepare for the Tuesday launch of its first successful intercontinental ballistic missile, a well-placed senior U.S. official told Fox News - however, no anti-missile defense systems appear to have been activated to shoot down the rocket. The U.S. had watched North Korea fueling the rocket prior to launch, the official said.

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WHEN North Korea claimed it was in the final stages of developing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at the beginning of the year, Donald Trump scoffed: "It won't happen." So it was perhaps not a coincidence that North Korea chose America's independence day to test a device that it claimed was indeed an ICBM. Although the claim is technically correct, the country's leader, Kim Jong Un, will probably have to wait a few more years before he can brandish a missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to Los Angeles or New York.

The missile appears to have flown for 37 minutes before splashing down some 930km from its launch. According to David Wright of the Union of Concerned Scientists, it had a lofted (heightened) trajectory, reaching an altitude of 2,800km. On a more conventional trajectory, the same missile would have a range of about 6,700km. That would be enough to reach Alaska, but not Hawaii or California.

This test comes after a similar one on May 14th; the missile used then, also on a lofted trajectory, was thought to have a potential range of 4,500km. John Schilling of the website "38 North" believes that missile to have been a scaled-down, two-stage version of the three-stage KN-08 prototype ICBM. The smaller missile, which the North Koreans called the Hwasong-12 and which Western intelligence analysts have tentatively designated as the KN-17, was displayed during a military parade on April 15th.

After the launch on May 14th, Mr Schilling speculated that the Hwasong-12 was being used to develop the technologies and systems needed for future ICBMs. This would be cheaper and less provocative than testing the KN-08.

The North Koreans, in an announcement several hours after the July 4th launch, dubbed the latest missile the Hwasong-14, which indicates that it may be a more powerful version of the Hwasong-12. The test, as well as demonstrating greater range, could have been designed to gain additional knowledge of the engineering requirements for a warhead-carrying re-entry vehicle by flying for longer and at higher altitude. Making a warhead small enough to fit on a missile and protecting it as it plummets through the earth's atmosphere are two of the technologies needed to build a working ICBM that North Korea may not yet have mastered.

On hearing the news, Donald Trump took to Twitter to harrumph: "North Korea has just launched another missile. Does this guy have anything better to do with his life? Hard to believe that South Korea and Japan will put up with this much longer. Perhaps China will put a heavy move on North Korea and end this nonsense once and for all!"

That is unlikely. Mr Trump has been forced to admit that his earlier hopes of getting China to rein in North Korea have gone unfulfilled. Mr Trump seems also to be more aware than before that military options, while still "on the table" according to Mike Pence, the vice-president, are very much a last resort. His defence secretary, James Mattis, recently said that outright war with North Korea would be "catastrophic" and "probably the worst kind of fighting in most people's lifetimes".

In a meeting in Washington last week with South Korea's new president, Moon Jae-in, Mr Trump emphasised that he was open to dialogue with North Korea "under the right circumstances". But there seems scant prospect of that, given the zeal with which Mr Kim is pursuing his missile programme. Even a new raft of "secondary" sanctions aimed at Chinese firms and banks that do business with North Korea would be unlikely to exert sufficient pressure on Mr Kim to bring him to the negotiating table, while antagonising China.

Fighting ballistics with ballistics

One remaining possibility, albeit a risky one, is that America might threaten to shoot down North Korean missiles in their boost or ascent phase. If North Korea cannot test, it cannot build a reliable ICBM. To do this, says Michael Elleman of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a think-tank, America and Japan would have to deploy a new generation of interceptors, which are 50% faster than the current ones, on their Aegis-class destroyers. But following the failure of a test firing in June, they are still some way from entering service. Given the speed at which North Korea's missile programme is advancing, its ICBMs may be ready before America's new interceptors are.

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North Korea's long-range-missile test alarms Washington

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WHEN North Korea claimed it was in the final stages of developing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) at the beginning of the year, Donald Trump scoffed: "It won't happen." So it was perhaps not a coincidence that North Korea chose America's independence day to test a device that it claimed was indeed an ICBM.