North Korea threatens attack on Pacific U.S. military bases

North Korea is once again threatening violence, and this time it says it can target U.S. military bases in Japan and the island of Guam.

Threats from the nation, which has been increasing its uses of aggressive rhetoric for the past month, came after the U.S. flew B-52 bombers over the Korean peninsula. The flights are part of an ongoing joint training mission with South Korea. North Korea has objected to this joint operation and, in response, Kim Jong Un visited troops close to the border with South Korea and said he had ended the armistice with the neighbouring nation.The latest threat came over North Korean state television, via the Supreme Command of the military, reports The New York Times: “The U.S. should not forget that the Anderson Air Force Base on Guam, where B-52s take off, and naval bases in Japan proper and Okinawa, where nuclear-powered submarines are launched, are within the striking range of the DPRK’s precision strike means,” the military spokesperson said.

In addition to the training exercises, North Korea continues to protest tougher UN sanctions, which were imposed on the nation after its third nuclear test. That test, in February, contravened UN anti-nuclear agreements.