North Korea has threatened to exercise its right to stage pre-emptive nuclear attack against anyone who threatens them, with state media warning of a "thermonuclear war".
A spokesman for Pyongyang's Foreign Ministry said the North will exercise its right for "pre-emptive nuclear strikes on the headquarters of the aggressors" because Washington is pushing to start a nuclear war against the North.
"Now that the US is set to light a fuse for a nuclear war, (our) revolutionary armed forces... will exercise the right to a pre-emptive nuclear attack to destroy the strongholds of the aggressors," the spokesman said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Separately, state media warned of a "thermonuclear war".
Following Tuesday's announcement by the military that it would rip up the 1953 armistice ending the Korean War, the North Korean ruling party's official mouthpiece, Rodong Sinmun, warned of an imminent conflict.
"With the armistice nullified, it would be no surprise if a global thermonuclear war breaks out," the newspaper said.
"The war will not be confined to the Korean peninsula," it said, reiterating Pyongyang's claims to have rockets capable of striking the US mainland.
Although North Korea boasts of nuclear bombs and pre-emptive strikes, it is not thought to have mastered the ability to produce a warhead small enough to put on a missile capable of reaching the US. It is believed to have enough nuclear fuel, however, for a handful of crude nuclear devices.
Such inflammatory rhetoric is common from North Korea, but it has been coming regularly in recent days. North Korea is angry over the possible sanctions and over forthcoming US-South Korean military drills.
The UN Security Council is set to impose a fourth round of sanctions against Pyongyang in a fresh attempt to rein in its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, the current council president, said the council will vote on the draft sanctions resolution Thursday morning.
The resolution was drafted by the United States and China, North Korea's closest ally. The council's agreement to put the resolution to a vote just 48 hours later signalled that it would almost certainly have the support of all 15 council members.
The statement by the North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman was carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.
It accused the US of leading efforts to slap sanctions on North Korea. The statement said the new sanctions would only advance the timing for North Korea to fulfil previous vows of taking "powerful second and third countermeasures" against its enemies. Those measures haven't been specifically elaborated on.
"We gravely warn that at a time when we cannot avoid a second Korean War, the U.N. Security Council, which served as the U.S. puppet in 1950 and made Korean people harbour eternal grudges against it, must not commit the same crime again," it said.
North Korea in the statement demanded the UN Security Council immediately dismantle the American-led U.N. Command that's based in Seoul and move to end the state of war that exists on the Korean Peninsula, which continues six decades after fighting stopped because an armistice, not a peace treaty, ended the war.
A spokesman for Pyongyang's Foreign Ministry said the North will exercise its right for "pre-emptive nuclear strikes on the headquarters of the aggressors" because Washington is pushing to start a nuclear war against the North.
"Now that the US is set to light a fuse for a nuclear war, (our) revolutionary armed forces... will exercise the right to a pre-emptive nuclear attack to destroy the strongholds of the aggressors," the spokesman said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Separately, state media warned of a "thermonuclear war".
Following Tuesday's announcement by the military that it would rip up the 1953 armistice ending the Korean War, the North Korean ruling party's official mouthpiece, Rodong Sinmun, warned of an imminent conflict.
"With the armistice nullified, it would be no surprise if a global thermonuclear war breaks out," the newspaper said.
"The war will not be confined to the Korean peninsula," it said, reiterating Pyongyang's claims to have rockets capable of striking the US mainland.
Although North Korea boasts of nuclear bombs and pre-emptive strikes, it is not thought to have mastered the ability to produce a warhead small enough to put on a missile capable of reaching the US. It is believed to have enough nuclear fuel, however, for a handful of crude nuclear devices.
Such inflammatory rhetoric is common from North Korea, but it has been coming regularly in recent days. North Korea is angry over the possible sanctions and over forthcoming US-South Korean military drills.
The UN Security Council is set to impose a fourth round of sanctions against Pyongyang in a fresh attempt to rein in its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, the current council president, said the council will vote on the draft sanctions resolution Thursday morning.
The resolution was drafted by the United States and China, North Korea's closest ally. The council's agreement to put the resolution to a vote just 48 hours later signalled that it would almost certainly have the support of all 15 council members.
The statement by the North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman was carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency.
It accused the US of leading efforts to slap sanctions on North Korea. The statement said the new sanctions would only advance the timing for North Korea to fulfil previous vows of taking "powerful second and third countermeasures" against its enemies. Those measures haven't been specifically elaborated on.
"We gravely warn that at a time when we cannot avoid a second Korean War, the U.N. Security Council, which served as the U.S. puppet in 1950 and made Korean people harbour eternal grudges against it, must not commit the same crime again," it said.
North Korea in the statement demanded the UN Security Council immediately dismantle the American-led U.N. Command that's based in Seoul and move to end the state of war that exists on the Korean Peninsula, which continues six decades after fighting stopped because an armistice, not a peace treaty, ended the war.
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