As South Korea and the American military planned annual joint military exercises, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un alerted his military to prepare for war.
South Korea and the United States rejected an offer from North Korea on Jan. 10 that Pyongyang would temporarily stop its nuclear testing if the U.S. canceled this year's exercise scheduled for this month,
according to the Korean Herald.
"The prevailing situation where a great war for national reunification is at hand requires all the Korean People's Army units to become guard units fully prepared for war politically and ideologically, in military technique and materially," Kim said, according to the Korean Central News Agency.
The joint South Korea-U.S. exercise, Operation Foal Eagle, involves 200,000 South Korean troops and 3,700 American personnel,
according to London's Daily Mail.
The Korean Herald reported that Kim had toured Victorious Fatherland Liberation War Museum that holds records from the Korean War from 1950 to 1953 and has a statue of his grandfather, Kim Il-sung, before making the comments.
Kim told North Korea's military that he wanted "to tear to pieces the Stars and Stripes" and threatened that America was vulnerable to a nuclear attack from his country, according to Daily Mail.
"The U.S. is seriously mistaken if it thinks its mainland is safe," said Kim.
The Daily Mail reported that Kim's comments come shortly after the U.S. government took another step in imposing new sanctions on North Korea's banks, blocking their access to hard cash.
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