N. Korea threatens ruthless strike back if nuke facilities are attacked

North Korea will "ruthlessly strike" back if the United States launches preemptive attacks on its nuclear facilities, a media report from the isolated communist country said Tuesday.

The report by the Minju Chosun, a newspaper published by the North's Cabinet, is the latest in a series of harsh rhetoric the country's state-run media has been unleashing in recent weeks amid signs that it would soon conduct another atomic test.

“If the United States and warmongers attack and try to weaken us, such expectations will be a huge miscalculation," the paper said in an article, monitored in Seoul, declaring that the North also has the ability to strike back.

South Korean media reported on Monday that Washington and Seoul would not rule out any options if it becomes clear that North Korea would use nuclear weapons to attack.

Citing the South Korean media reports, Minju Chosun said that if North Korea is attacked, its military and people will rise up and "mercilessly repel the perpetrators and start a victorious war of national unification."

"War mongers should refrain from acting indiscriminately," it warned.

Citing another South Korea media report, the North's paper claimed that Seoul and Washington jointly conducted simulated bombing attacks on the North's main nuclear complex in Yongbyon 10 years ago.

The newspaper also denounced the U.N. Security Council's recent resolution that expanded its earlier sanctions to punish North Korea for its Dec. 12 rocket launch, arguing that it was only aimed at weakening the North's defense.

In order to safeguard its sovereignty, North Korea will continue to build up its military and nuclear deterrence, the paper said. Right after the resolution was passed, North Korea openly warned that it could detonate another nuclear device.

North Korea has previously conducted two nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009. Experts say that a third test would give the North full-fledged nuclear arms capabilities. (Yonhap News)