North Korea vowed to wage a "merciless, sacred war" against the United States on Thursday, days before the launch of annual joint South Korea-US military exercises that have incensed Pyongyang.
"Nuclear weapons are not a monopoly of the US," the ruling party's official newspaper, Rodong Sinmun, warned in an editorial carried by the state KCNA news agency.
"The US is seriously mistaken if it thinks its mainland is safe," the editorial added.
North Korea "will wage a merciless sacred war against the US now that the latter has chosen confrontation", the Rodong Sinmun said.
North Korea regularly ramps up the bellicose rhetoric before the start of the annual joint military exercises that always see a sharp surge in tensions on the divided peninsula.
Seoul and Washington insist they are defensive in nature, but they are condemned by Pyongyang as provocative rehearsals for invasion.
North Korea had offered a moratorium on nuclear testing if this year's joint drills were cancelled -- a proposal rejected by Washington as an "implicit threat" to carry out a fourth nuclear test.
The editorial came as South Korea and the United States conducted a joint naval drill Friday, involving 10 South Korean warships and a US Aegis destroyer.
The drill was a prelude to the eight-week Foal Eagle exercise which kicks off Monday and involves air, ground and naval field training, with around 200,000 Korean and 3,700 US troops.
A week-long, largely computer-simulated joint drill, Key Resolve, also gets underway Monday.
North Korea has made threats against the US mainland before, although it has never demonstrated a missile strike capability of that range.
Although its nuclear program remains shrouded in uncertainty, Pyongyang is currently believed to have a stockpile of some 10 to 16 nuclear weapons fashioned from either plutonium or weapons-grade uranium.
A new research report by US experts published this week estimated that North Korea could be on track to have an arsenal of 100 nuclear weapons by 2020.
Mkuu, sometimes hata uwe gangwe, na mwenye nguvu, unaweza ukashinda vita lakini kajamaa kakakubinyake*nde hadi ukapoteza uzazi baada ya hapo
Hivi vikorea ni vya kuvipa kubwa moja tu, au kukachukua kale kakiongozi kao kama walivyofanya kwa Ortega yaishe
Halafu kijamaa kitemi sana aisee. Eti kimepiga marufuku Wakorea wengine kuwa na jina kama lake
Dah kuna nchi zinajua sana kupiga propaganda....
Hii nilikuwa sijaisikia .... na watu hakuna kulalamika?
During the past rules under Kim's father Kim Jong-il and grandfather Kim Il-sung, a similar decree had been in effect. For example, names like "Kim Tae-yang" were banned because "Tae-yang" literally means the sun, which is the symbol of North Korea's founder Kim Il-sung. Even names such as "Jong Il-bong" was restricted because the full name consists of a "jong" and a "il."
Starting in the 1970s, the decree was broadened to people with same names as the ruler's parents including Kim Jong-il's mother Kim Jong-sook and Kim Il-sung's mother Kang Ban-suk.
- Dictator Kim Jong Un threatened 'to tear to pieces the Stars and Stripes'
Hawana tofauti na watanzania
Hicho kijamaa kinajua sana kuchimba biti.
Na hizo biti tumeshazizoea na wengine huwa zinatuchekesha sana.
Ni bora angejikita katika kuboresha maisha ya watu wake ikiwemo kuwapa uhuru wa kuona na kujua yanayoendelea nje ya hiyo nchi.
Hao watu wanaishi kama kuku wa kufugwa. Wanatia huruma. Wamechotwa akili.
Sielewi kwa nini mamiioni ya watu waweze kuchotwa akili na familia moja namna hiyo.
Halafu eti jina rasmi la hiyo nchi ni DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea).
Hivi wanafanyaga hata chaguzi hao watu?
Vichekesho!!
Wanawake jeshini wanalia kwa kumtaka, hawa sio wa kuwaambia mambo kama hayo.
Haka kajamaa ni stubborn kweli, sijui kwanini Marekani wameiacha hii familia kuendelea kutamba mpaka leo!Duh!
Hao watu ni wajinga kupitiliza!
Kinachoshangaza ni Marekani kuwaacha waendelee na mikwara yao, kwanini asiwaswage kama Saddam?Huyu jamaa ana mikwara tu kama baba yake, sio mara ya kwanza naskia North Korea inamtishia Marekani but each time sijawahi kuona action
wa awamu ya kwanza.