NORTH KOREA "O.K.'S" U.S. NUCLEAR ATTACK!!

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N Korea a 'real and clear danger' - US

North Korea's threats represent a 'real and clear danger' to the US, US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said.

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0:00 / 2:41

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US vows to defend South against N Korea

The US has vowed to defend itself and its allies after N Korea announced plans to restart a nuclear reactor.

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0:00 / 2:46

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N Korea tension too high - Ban Ki-moon

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says tensions have already soared too high on the Korean peninsula.

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NORTH Korea dramatically escalated its warlike rhetoric, warning that it had authorised plans for nuclear strikes on targets in the United States.

"The moment of explosion is approaching fast," the North Korean military said, warning that war could break out "today or tomorrow".

Pyongyang's latest pronouncement came as Washington scrambled to reinforce its Pacific missile defences, preparing to send ground-based interceptors to Guam and dispatching two Aegis class destroyers to the region.

Tension was also high on the North's heavily-fortified border with South Korea, after Kim Jong-Un's isolated regime barred South Koreans from entering a Seoul-funded joint industrial park on its side of the frontier.

In a statement published by the state KCNA news agency, the Korean People's Army general staff warned Washington that US threats would be "smashed by... cutting-edge smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear strike means"