N. Korea holds massive rally amid tensions

North Korea held a massive rally in Pyongyang as its leader Kim Jong-un put the country's rocket forces on standby for a possible strike against the United States and its military targets, state media said Friday.

It was the first rally since North Korea put its missile and artillery units into a combat ready posture in response to what it claims is a nuclear threat from the U.S.

Mun Kyong-duk, a senior official in Pyongyang, renewed his country's latest threat to strike the U.S. and its military bases in the Pacific, including Hawaii and Guam, and those in South Korea, according to the North's state television monitored in Seoul.

North Korea frequently organizes massive rallies to demonstrate its unity to the outside world in times of crisis.

The latest rally comes amid rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula following the North's rocket launch and the Feb. 12 nuclear test.

"(Kim) finally signed the plan on technical preparations of strategic rockets, ordering them to be on standby to fire so that they may strike any time the U.S. mainland, its military bases in the operational theaters in the Pacific, including Hawaii and Guam, and those in South Korea," the North's Korean Central News Agency said.

Kim's move came as the U.S. sent nuclear-capable stealth bombers to South Korea for bombing drills in the latest show of force against North Korea. (Yonhap News)