SEOUL - Isolated North Korea has rockets
that can hit the US mainland, it said on Tuesday, two days
after South Korea struck a deal with the United States to extend
the range of its ballistic missiles.
North and South Korea have been technically at war since
their 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, and
regional powers have for years been trying to rein in the
North's nuclear weapons program.
North Korea is believed to be developing a long-range
missile with a range of 6,700 km or more aimed at
hitting the United States, but two recent rocket tests both
failed.
Its neighbors fear the North is using rocket launches to
perfect technology to build a missile capable of delivering a
nuclear warhead to the United States.
North Korea's National Defense Commission said in a
statement that the North was prepared to counter any US
military threats, its KCNA news agency said.