N. Korea says military to enter combat ready posture

North Korea's military will put its missile and artillery units into combat ready posture in order to protect its sovereignty, the country's state news media said Tuesday.

"From this moment, the Supreme Command puts all of its field artillery including strategic rocket units and long-range artillery units into the No. 1 combat ready posture," the Korean People's Army's Supreme Command said in a statement carried by the (North) Korean Central News Agency. The artillery units target the U.S.

mainland, Hawaii and Guam and other U.S. military bases in the Pacific as well as South Korea, the statement said.

The statement said the country will "show off our army and people's stern reaction to safeguard our sovereignty and the highest dignity through military actions," referring to its leader Kim Jong-un as the highest dignity.

The country's "crystal clear judgment" is that it cannot overlook the United States' nuclear threats and military actions any longer.

It will also display the military's powerful intention to the South through physical actions, the statement noted.

The statement came as the country ratcheted up military threats to the two allies over their two joint military drills this month and the latest punitive sanctions adopted by the United Nations following the North's Feb. 12 nuclear test. (Yonhap News)