SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korea would respond to a pre-emptive
U.S. military attack with an "annihilating strike and a nuclear war,"
the state-run media said Monday, heightening anti-U.S. rhetoric amid
close scrutiny of its missile program.

The Korean Central News Agency, citing an unidentified Rodong Sinmun
newspaper "analyst," accused the United States of increasing military
pressure on the isolated communist state and basing new spy planes on
the Korean Peninsula.

The North Korean threat of retaliation, which is often voiced by its
state-controlled media, comes amid U.S. official reports that Pyongyang
has shown signs of preparing for a test of a long-range missile. North
Korea claims it has the right to such a launch.

On Friday, Pyongyang accused the United States of driving the situation
on the Korean Peninsula "to the brink of war," and said it is fully
prepared to counter any U.S. aggression.