- North Korean army says it has 'final approval' for nuclear attack
- United States to move anti-missile system to Guam
- Two advanced missile destroyers moved closer to North Korea
NORTH Korea has declared it has given 'final approval' for a nuclear attack on the United States.
The North Korean army said it would launch "merciless" military strikes on the United States, involving the possible use of "cutting-edge" nuclear weapons.
In a statement published by the official KCNA news agency, the General Staff of the Korean People's Army said it was formally informing Washington that US threats would be "smashed by... cutting-edge smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear strike means".
"The merciless operation of (our) revolutionary armed forces in this regard has been finally examined and ratified."
The declaration came minutes after the United States announced it would deploy a land-based missile defence system to Guam to counter North Korean threats of a nuclear strike.
THE THREAT THAT WON'T GO AWAY.
WE WILL DEFEND OUR ALLIES: UNITED STATES.
RUDD SEES CHINA SHIFT ON NORTH KOREA.
The Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile during a test. The United States is to deploy a THAAD missile defense battery to defend its bases on the Pacific island of Guam.
The United States Department of Defense issued a statement saying the truck-mounted launcher and radar system will be moved in next few weeks.
The missile system joins two destroyers deployed to the region in the past few days. The ships are also capable of shooting down intercontinental ballistic missiles.
North Korea has been making increasingly hysterical threats against South Korea and the United States in recent weeks. However, the United States Department of Defense says it has not detected any unusual military movements or activity around missile sites within the rogue country.
North Korea's threats and recent actions represent a "real and clear danger" to the United States as well as its allies South Korea and Japan, US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said.
"They have nuclear capacity now, they have missile delivery capacity now," Hagel said after giving a major strategy speech at the National Defense University, calling Pyongyang's "bellicose dangerous rhetoric" problematic.
"We take those threats seriously, we have to take those threats seriously," he added.
"We are doing everything we can, working with the Chinese and others to defuse that situation on the peninsula.
The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS John S. McCain (DDG 56) sailing in the waters off the Korean Peninsula.
"I hope the North will ratchet its very dangerous rhetoric down."
LOST IN TRANSLATION: NORTH KOREA'S TWEETS.
MOST EXCELLENT PICTURES OF KIM JONG-UN.
North Korea on Wednesday blocked access to the key Kaesong joint industrial zone with South Korea - the only surviving example of inter-Korean cooperation and a crucial source of hard currency for Pyongyang.
The move represented a sharp escalation of a military crisis that has also seen the North threaten missile and nuclear strikes against the United States and its ally South Korea in response to UN sanctions and joint military drills.
Tensions have been soaring on the Korean peninsula since the North launched a long-range rocket in December and conducted its third nuclear test in February.
In a rare show of force in the region, Washington has deployed nuclear-capable US B-52s, B-2 stealth bombers and two US destroyers to South Korean air and sea space.
The Sea-based, X-band Radar (SBX 1) transits the waters of Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The United States has deployed a sophisticated sea-based radar to the ocean east of Japan to track any North Korean ballistic missile launches.
"We've been trying to work with the North Koreans to try to persuade them it's not in their interest, and certainly not in the Korean peninsula interest... to pursue nuclear weapons," Hagel said.
"There is a pathway that is responsible, for the North to get on the path to peace, working with their neighbours... but they've got to be a responsible member of the world community."
Forces deployed on the Korean Peninsula.
An anti-missile defence system.
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