North Korea threatens US with nuclear strike if leader harmed

North Korea on Tuesday threatened a nuclear strike on the United States if it attempts to remove country leader Kim Jong Un.

According to a report by the CNN, Pyongyang's state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported that a spokesman from the North Korean Foreign Ministry said, "The DPRK legally stipulates that if the supreme dignity of the DPRK is threatened, it must preemptively annihilate those countries and entities that are directly or indirectly involved in it, by mobilizing all kinds of strike means including the nuclear ones."

"Should the US dare to show even the slightest sign of attempt to remove our supreme leadership, we will strike a merciless blow at the heart of the US with our powerful nuclear hammer, honed and hardened over time," the spokesman added.

The threat was in response to comments from Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Director Mike Pompeo, who said last week that the Trump administration needed to find a way to separate Kim from his growing nuclear stockpile.

Recently, the US intelligence also assessed that North Korea has accelerated its intercontinental range ballistic missile program.