Build up to WW3 - North Korea Military Officially Authorized to WAGE a NUCLEAR ATTACK Against U.S.

North Korea warns military cleared to wage nuclear attack against US

South Korea says North Korea has moved a missile with "considerable range" to its east coast after an unnamed spokesman for the North Korean army warned the U.S. Wednesday that its military has been cleared to wage an attack using "smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear" weapons.

South Korea's defense minister said Thursday the missile moved is not capable of hitting the United States.

Kim Kwan-jin dismissed reports in Japanese and South Korean media that the missile could be a KN-08, which is believed to be a long-range missile that if operable could hit the United States.

Kim told lawmakers at a hearing that the missile's range is considerable but not far enough to hit the U.S. mainland. He said he did not know the reasons behind the missile movement, saying it "could be for testing or drills."

The range he described could refer to a mobile North Korean missile known as the Musudan, which has a range of 1,800 miles. That would make Japan and South Korea potential targets, but little is known about the missile's accuracy.

North Korea has railed for weeks against joint U.S. and South Korean military exercises taking place in South Korea and has expressed anger over tightened sanctions for a February nuclear test.

The army spokesman said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency that troops have been authorized to counter U.S. aggression with "powerful practical military counteractions."

North Korea nuclear threats prompt US missile battery deployment to Guam

Hagel says Pyongyang poses 'real and clear danger' to US allies as Pentagon deploys missile defence battery to Pacific island

The Pentagon ordered an advanced missile defence system to the western Pacific on Wednesday, as the US defence secretary, Chuck Hagel, declared that North Korea posed "a real and clear danger" to South Korea, Japan and America itself.
The deployment of the battery to the US territory of Guam is the biggest demonstration yet that Washington regards the confrontation with North Korea as more worrying than similar crises over the past few years. It also suggests the Americans are preparing for a long standoff.

North Korea ramped up its rhetoric on Wednesday, warning that it had authorised plans for nuclear strikes on targets in the US. The North Korean military said that the "moment of explosion is approaching fast" and that war could break out "today or tomorrow".

An unnamed North Korea army spokesman, in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency, said its military had been cleared to wage an attack using "smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear" weapons.

Early on Thursday the Yonhap news agency in the South said North Korea had moved what appeared to be a missile that might be capable of reaching Guam to its east coast. The Musudan missile, thought to be untested, had a theoretical range of 1,875 miles (3,000km) which would put all of South Korea and Japan within its reach, said Yonhap, quoting unnamed South Korean and US intelligence sources.