Washington has dismissed a threat by North Korea that it will launch a
nuclear strike against the US in the event of an American attack
against it.

A White House spokesman described the threat as "deeply hypothetical".

Tony Snow said the statement was about what might happen if something
that had not happened, did happen.

He urged the North Koreans to return to six-party talks aimed at
curbing the country's nuclear activities. The talks stalled last year.

Earlier on Monday, Pyongyang warned it would launch an "annihilating"
nuclear strike if its atomic facilities were pre-emptively attacked by
the United States.

But the US State Department said it had no intention of attacking
North Korea.

"The strong preference of the United States and the other parties to
the six-party talks, other than North Korea, is for North Korea to
rejoin the talks, to sit down at the table," Mr Snow said.

The talks involving the US, Russia, China, Japan, South Korea and
North Korea stalled in November after Pyongyang objected to military
drills conducted by the US and South Korea, which it denounced as a
preparation for invasion.

North Korea is thought to be preparing to launch the Taepodong-2 from
the Musudan-ri launch site in the northeast of the country.

The untested missile has a range of up to 6,000 km (3,730 miles),
putting parts of the US within striking distance.

The last time North Korea tested a long-range missile was in 1998,
when it launched a Taepodong-1 over northern Japan.=20
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