A Washington-based author and attorney has downplayed the US threats to confront North Korea, saying Pyongyang will not be intimidated by Washington's warnings.

 It is a totally manufactured crisis and North Korea is an extremely poor country that can barely feed itself. It has almost no exports, no foreign exchange earnings and yet the United States seems to fear it being half a world away, Michael Springmann told Press TV on Tuesday.

 The North Korean government apparently will not be cowed by American threats and they seem to think that by firing a missile they'll show their response to American government actions, he added.