North Korea Warns Of ‘Unimaginable Strike’ On United States

North Korea warned the United States of an “unimaginable strike” in a message broadcast Thursday by the country’s state-run media service. The threat appeared to be a response to military drills being carried out by the U.S. in conjunction with South Korea off the Korean Peninsula.

“The U.S. is running amok by introducing under our nose the targets we have set as primary ones,” North Korea’s state news agency said in a statement. “The U.S. should expect that it would face unimaginable strike at an unimaginable time.”

U.S. military drills off the coast of the Korean Peninsula were set to run through Oct. 26. China has condemned the exercises in the past, calling the U.S. and North Korea in March “two accelerating trains coming toward each other.” It’s not the first time North Korea has denounced the drills, either. The country threatened both South Korea and the U.S. with war over their joint military exercises in March, describing them as “massive,” “unprecedented” and a “major cause of escalation in tension that might turn into actual war.”

The country also renewed a threat against Guam in recent days ahead of joint drills.

“We have already warned several times that we will take counteractions for self-defense, including a salvo of missiles into waters near the U.S. territory of Guam,” the state news agency said, quoting Kim Kwak Hak, a researcher at the Institute for American Studies of the North Korean Foreign Ministry. “The U.S. military action hardens our determination that the US should be tamed with fire and lets us take our hand close to the ‘trigger’ for taking the toughest countermeasure.”

The new warning from North Korea comes just days after the country said that nuclear war “may break out any moment.” North Korea’s deputy ambassador to the United Nations Kim In Ryong made those comments Monday in a statement to the U.N. General Assembly meeting on nuclear disarmament.

“The entire U.S. mainland is within our firing range,” the statement said. “And if the U.S. dares to invade our sacred territory even an inch it will not escape our severe punishment in any part of the globe.”

In that same warning, the ambassador said North Korea would show peace toward any country that does not cooperate with the U.S.

“As long as one does not take part in the U.S. military actions against the DPRK, we have no intention to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against any other country,” the statement said.

President Donald Trump, however, appeared unfazed by repeated threats from the country in recent months. Amid the escalating tensions, Trump threatened North Korea in August about its statements.

“North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States,” he said. “They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.”