Last week, China's coast guard mounted what the Philippines called an "unusual" show of force at Second Thomas Shoal, a hotly disputed submerged reef in the Spratly Islands where Manila maintains a small outpost in the form of the rusting warship BRP Sierra Madre, grounded there in 1999 to anchor its territorial claim.

Several nations are vying for control over the Spratly Islands - an archipelago of tiny islands and reefs located in vital shipping lanes

Artificial islands housing munitions and aircraft created in an attempt to lay claim to disputed islands vital for shipping

Donald Trump suggested on social media that the U.S. might stop doing business with South Korea, but in a meeting with President Lee Jae Myung, no tension emerged.

At the White House, President Trump and Lee Jae Myung praised each other’s eagerness to talk to North Korea’s leader — even if he doesn’t want to talk to them.

President Donald Trump is willing to meet with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, he told his South Korean counterpart on Monday when they discussed peace in the Korean Peninsula and Pyongyang’s nuclear weapon capabilities.