TEHRAN, May 1, YJC - Pyongyang says it will sink a US submarine deployed off the Korean Peninsula in case of the slightest misstep by Washington.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - "The moment the USS Michigan tries to budge even a little, it will be doomed to face the miserable fate of becoming an underwater ghost without being able to come to the surface,” said state-run Uriminzokkiri news website on Sunday.
It added that the submarine’s deployment, which coincides with the deployment of a US naval strike group, is a military threat to the North.
"Whether it’s a nuclear aircraft carrier or a nuclear submarine, they will be turned into a mass of scrap metal in front of our invincible military power centered on the self-defense nuclear deterrence,” added the website.
The US has recently deployed aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson to waters off the Korean Peninsula in a show of force. The USS Michigan nuclear submarine joined the strike group earlier this week.
The latest threats came after US President Donald Trump warned that if North Korean leader Kim Jong-un "does a nuclear test, he (Trump) would not be happy.”
On Saturday, North Korea test-launched a ballistic missile, which according to South Korean officials, exploded shortly after liftoff.
Pyongyang, already under a raft of sanctions for its missile and nuclear programs, says it is developing arms as deterrence against the US threat. North Korea has also said that it would not abandon its missile and nuclear programs unless the US ended its hostility toward Pyongyang.
The North, which has so far conducted five confirmed nuclear tests and numerous missile test-launches, is believed to be preparing for its sixth nuclear weapons test. While Pyongyang has not fired missiles against other countries, it has vowed strong action -- including missile attacks against South Korea -- if it was invaded by the South and the US.