North Korean state-run media has claimed that the country will launch a "super-mighty preemptive strike" against the United States following statements by members of President Donald Trump's administration that the U.S. intends to increase pressure on the Hermit Kingdom, Reuters reported Thursday.
The government's Rodong Sinmun newspaper reported: "In the case of our super-mighty preemptive strike being launched, it will completely and immediately wipe out not only U.S. imperialists' invasion forces in South Korea and its surrounding areas but the U.S. mainland and reduce them to ashes.”
The threat comes after Vice President Mike Pence declared earlier this week that the "era of strategic patience" with North Korea is over.
Reuters reported that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told reporters Wednesday that the U.S. is "reviewing all the status of North Korea, both in terms of state sponsorship of terrorism as well as the other ways in which we can bring pressure on the regime in Pyongyang to re-engage with us, but re-engage with us on a different footing than past talks have been held.”
The North Korean regime has recently conducted missile and nuclear tests, which the Trump administration sees as a provocation.
According to CBS News, Defense Secretary James Mattis told reporters Wednesday that the USS Carl Vinson carrier group is on its way to the Korean peninsula.
The communist North Korean regime frequently threatens attacks against Japan, South Korea, and the United States.
