The North Korean long-range ballistic missile test has dramatically raised the stakes on the Korean peninsula, but experts say the US has limited military options to tackle the mounting threat from Pyongyang without risking retaliation that has the potential to destroy Seoul.

Mike Mullen, chairman of the joint chiefs during the Obama administration, said the only “viable path” to resolving the North Korean situation was for the US to work with China, because the military tools available to the US carried very high risks.

In 2006, as North Korea prepared to launch a long-range ballistic missile, William Perry, a former US defence secretary, and Ash Carter, who was defence secretary under Barack Obama, urged George W Bush to launch a pre-emptive surgical strike to destroy the rocket.