North Korea has said the US is pushing the peninsula to the brink of war after a pair of strategic US bombers flew over the area in a training drill with the South Korean air force.

The two supersonic B-1B Lancer bombers were deployed on Tuesday amid rising tensions over North Korea’s pursuit of its nuclear and missile programs in defiance of United Nations sanctions and pressure from the US, Reuters reports.

The US air force said in a statement the bombers had flown from Guam to conduct training exercises with the South Korean and Japanese air forces.

North Korea said the bombers conducted “a nuclear bomb-dropping drill against major objects” in its territory at a time when Trump and “other US warmongers are crying out for making a pre-emptive nuclear strike” on the North.

“The reckless military provocation is pushing the situation on the Korean peninsula closer to the brink of nuclear war,” the North’s official KCNA news agency said on Tuesday.

"A smart cookie"

It comes after White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer defended US President Donald Trump's comments that he would be "honoured" to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. 

“If it would be appropriate for me to meet with him, I would absolutely, I would be honored to do it,” Trump told Bloomberg News on Monday. “If it’s under the, again, under the right circumstances. But I would do that.”

Speaking at the daily press briefing, Spicer attempted to clarify the President's comments. 

“He’s still the head of state,” Spicer said in regard to Kim. “There is a diplomatic piece to this. The bottom line is the president is going to do what he has to do.

“Clearly conditions are not there right now [...] I don’t see this happening anytime soon.”

On the President calling Jong-un a "smart cookie", Spicer said:

“His point was he assumed power at a young age when his father passed away and there’s a lot of potential threats that could have come his way and he’s obviously managed to lead a country forward."