Published on Mar 31, 2013
2013 Breaking news North Korea threats of NUCLEAR-MISSILE-STRIKE USA.North Korea's threatening rhetoric has reached a fever pitch, but the Pentagon and the South Korean government have said it's nothing new.
"We have no indications at this point that it's anything more than warmongering rhetoric," a senior Washington Defense official said late Friday.
The official was not authorized to speak to the media and asked not to be named.
State media: North Korea in 'state of war' with South
The National Security Council, which advises the U.S.
president on matters of war, struck a similar cord.
Washington finds North Korea's statements "unconstructive," and it does take the threats seriously.
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North Korea ready for war? "But, we would also note that North Korea has a long history of bellicose rhetoric and threats, and today's announcement follows that familiar pattern," said Caitlin Hayden, a spokeswoman for the security council.
The United States will continue to update its capabilities against any military threat from the North, which includes plans to deploy missile defense systems.
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North Korea's hot rhetoric
Pyongyang's propaganda machine flung new insults at the United States on Saturday.
It compared the U.S.
mainland with a "boiled pumpkin," unable to endure an attack from a foreign foe, the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported.
North Korea, on the other hand, could sustain an offensive from the outside, the report said.
It claimed the government had built shelters around the country "against any enemy nuclear and chemical weapons attack."
The rhetoric and military show of force by the North have heated up in the face of annual joint military exercise between South Korean and U.S.
forces called Foal Eagle.
The routine maneuvers are carried out in accordance with the armistice that put an end to armed hostilities in 1953.
There was no peace treaty to officially end the war.
