TEHRAN, YJC. North Korea threatened on Thursday to exercise its right to stage preemptive nuclear attack against anyone who attacks as Pyongyang ratcheted up its rhetoric against "hostile" countries as the United Nations readied new sanctions against it.
"Since the United States is about to ignite a nuclear war, we will be exercising our right to preemptive nuclear attack against the headquarters of the aggressor in order to protect our supreme interest," the North's foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency.
The North has accused Washington of using military drills in South Korea as a launchpad for a nuclear and conventional attack on it and has threatened to carry out more nuclear weapons tests in response to sanctions promoted by the U.S.
Pyongyang does not have the capacity to deliver a nuclear strike on the United States.
Reuters