SEOUL -- North Korea has threatened to launch a nuclear strike "at the heart of the United States" if Washington attempts regime change, the South Korean news agency Yonhap reported Wednesday, citing a report from the communist nation's official news agency KCNA. Pompeo reportedly said the most important thing the U.S. can do is "separate [nuclear] capacity and someone who might well have [nuclear] intent and break those two apart." "If the supreme dignity of the DPRK is threatened, [North Korea] must preemptively annihilate those countries and entities that are directly or indirectly involved in it by mobilizing all kinds of strike means including the nuclear ones," the spokesman said further, according to KCNA. Tests by North Korea of two nuclear bombs and various missiles have increased tensions on the peninsula since the start of last year. As recently as July 4, North Korea tested an intercontinental ballistic missile, which, according to analysts, brought it a step closer to being able to launch a missile that could strike the U.S.

Source: The China Post July 26, 2017 06:11 UTC