N Korea ‘combat posture to hit US’

North Korea says it has ordered artillery and rocket units into “combat posture” to prepare to target US bases in Hawaii, Guam and the US mainland.

The announcement, carried by KCNA news agency, follows days of strong rhetoric from Pyongyang.

The Pentagon condemned the threats, saying the US was ready to respond to “any contingency”.

South Korea on Tuesday marked the third anniversary of the sinking of the Cheonan ship, in which 46 sailors died.

It said there was no unusual activity in the North.

Tensions remain high on the Korean peninsula in the wake of North Korea’s third nuclear test on 12 February. The test led to new UN sanctions which Pyongyang strongly opposes.

Joint US-South Korea annual military drills have further angered the communist nation. In recent weeks its habitually fiery rhetoric has escalated – it has threatened the US with “pre-emptive nuclear attacks”, as well as strikes on US military bases in Japan.

“From this moment, the Supreme Command of the Korean People’s Army will be putting in combat duty posture No 1 all field artillery units including long-range artillery units and strategic rocket units that will target all enemy objects in US invasionary bases on its mainland, Hawaii and Guam,” the KCNA statement said.

North Korea is not thought to have the technology to strike the US mainland with either a nuclear weapon or a ballistic missile, but it is capable of targeting US military bases in the region with its mid-range missiles.

North Korea’s announcement comes as the country carries out large-scale military exercises, reports the BBC’s Lucy Williamson in Seoul, and it is not clear whether the order applies to the army as a whole or just to specific units.

‘Exercise restraint’

In response, the US said that it was concerned by any North Korean threats.

“We take everything they say and everything they do very seriously,” Pentagon spokesman George Little said.

“They need to stop threatening peace – that doesn’t help anyone.”

In a press briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said that he hoped that “relevant parties [would] exercise restraint so as to ease the tension”.

The statement came hours after South Korean President Park Geun-hye called on North Korea to “change course” by abandoning nuclear weapons.

Speaking at the national cemetery in Daejeon where the sailors who died when the warship sank are buried, Ms Park said North Korea continued to threaten the South’s national security.

“For the North, the only path to survival lies in stopping provocations and threats, abandoning its nuclear weaponry and missiles, and becoming a responsible member of the international community,” she said. MOREHERE