"From this moment, the Supreme Command of the Korean People's Army will be putting into combat duty posture No. 1 all field artillery units, including long-range artillery units and strategic rocket units, that will target all enemy objects in U.S. invasionary bases on its mainland, Hawaii and Guam," the North's KCNA news agency said.
The announcement came as images were released showing a new round of military exercises by the isolated state, days after the South Korean and US militaries signed a new pact, providing for a joint military response to even low-level provocative action by North Korea.The threat comes just a week after the North posted a chilling propaganda video showing paratroopers descending on Seoul in an invasion scenario that it threatened would see thousands of US citizens living in South Korea taken hostage.
The four-minute video, available to watch below, titled “A Short, Three-Day War,” shows a massive artillery and rocket barrage, followed by a large-scale land and air assault with North Korean troops streaming over the border.
A male narrator describes how "crack stormtroops will occupy Seoul and other cities and take 150,000 US citizens as hostages".
The video’s narrator then describes different stages of the invasion, including the destruction of forces under the US Pacific Command with “powerful weapons of mass destruction.”
The video showed footage of paratroopers jumping from the sky superimposed over an aerial shot of the South Korean capital, with North Korean military helicopters hovering overhead.
A male narrator describes how "crack stormtroops will occupy Seoul and other cities and take 150,000 US citizens as hostages".
The video’s narrator then describes different stages of the invasion, including the destruction of forces under the US Pacific Command with “powerful weapons of mass destruction.”
The video showed footage of paratroopers jumping from the sky superimposed over an aerial shot of the South Korean capital, with North Korean military helicopters hovering overhead.
What North Korean state media has said was a drill of drone planes assaulting targets
The announcement came days after the South and US militaries signed a new pact against the North
The video was the latest in a line of similarly-themed productions posted to the Uriminzokkiri channel at a time of escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula.
An equally disturbing video, post last month, showed New York in flames after an apparent missile attack, and another two weeks later depicted US soldiers and President Barack Obama burning in the flames of a nuclear blast.
And earlier this week, another video showed the dome of the US Capitol building in Washington exploding in a fireball.
An equally disturbing video, post last month, showed New York in flames after an apparent missile attack, and another two weeks later depicted US soldiers and President Barack Obama burning in the flames of a nuclear blast.
And earlier this week, another video showed the dome of the US Capitol building in Washington exploding in a fireball.
The White House 'caught in the panoramic sight of a North Korean long-range missile'
The North previously threatened nuclear attack on the United States and South Korea, although it is not believed to have the capability to hit the continental United States with an atomic weapon. But the U.S. military's bases in the Pacific area are in range of its medium-range missiles.
South Korea's defence ministry said it had detected no signs of unusual activity by the North's military but will monitor the situation. The South and the U.S. military are conducting drills until the end of April, which they have stressed are strictly defensive in nature.
The North has previously threatened to strike back at the U.S. military accusing Washington of war preparations by using B-52 bombers which have flown over the Korean peninsula as part of the drills.
North Korea has said it has abrogated an armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War and threatened a nuclear attack on the United States.
South Korea's defence ministry said it had detected no signs of unusual activity by the North's military but will monitor the situation. The South and the U.S. military are conducting drills until the end of April, which they have stressed are strictly defensive in nature.
The North has previously threatened to strike back at the U.S. military accusing Washington of war preparations by using B-52 bombers which have flown over the Korean peninsula as part of the drills.
North Korea has said it has abrogated an armistice that ended the 1950-53 Korean War and threatened a nuclear attack on the United States.
