N. Korea puts rockets on standby for US strike

SEOUL–North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un on Friday ordered preparations for strategic rocket strikes on the US mainland and military bases in the Pacific and South Korea.

The order, issued at an overnight emergency meeting with top army commanders, was a direct response to the use of nuclear-capable US B-2 stealth bombers in on-going US joint military drills with South Korea, Kim said.

In the event of any “reckless” US provocation, North Korean forces should “mercilessly strike the US mainland…military bases in the Pacific, including Hawaii and Guam, and those in South Korea,” he was quoted as saying by the official Korean Central News Agency.

With tensions soaring on the Korean peninsula, two B-2s flew training bombing runs over South Korea Thursday to underline US commitment to its military alliance with Seoul in the event of any aggression from the North.

Kim argued that the stealth bomber flights went beyond a simple demonstration of force and amounted to a US “ultimatum that they will ignite a nuclear war at any cost”.

Present at the emergency meeting, held at 00:30 am (1530 GMT Thursday) were the head of the Korean People’s Army chief of general staff, director of operations and commander of strategic rocket operations.