North Korea yesterday warned the incoming Donald Trump administration will have to acknowledge it as a nuclear state, as the South said the maverick billionaire had pledged to protect it

The United States maintains it cannot accept North Korea as a nuclear power, despite it conducting five nuclear tests - including two in 2016 - and has pushed harsh international sanctions against the Pyongyang regime.

"If there is anything the Obama administration has done... it has put the security of the US mainland in the greatest danger," said an editorial carried by North Korea's ruling party newspaper Rodong Sinmun.

But in a phone call with South Korean President Park Geun-Hye yesterday, Trump vowed that US commitment on protecting its ally against the North "will not waver".

"We are going to be with you 100 percent," Trump said, according to a statement from South Korea's Blue House.