海角大神

罢丑别听United States聽said on Wednesday it would soon send a missile defense system to聽Guam聽to defend it from North Korea, as the U.S. military adjusts to what Defense Secretary聽Chuck Hagel聽has called a "real and clear danger" from聽Pyongyang.

At the same time, North Korea聽repeated its threat to launch a nuclear attack on the聽United States.聽Pyongyang聽said it had ratified a potential strike because of U.S. military deployments around the Korean peninsula that it claimed were a prelude to a possible nuclear attack on the North.

Washington had been informed of the potential attack by North Korea, a spokesman for its聽army聽said in a statement carried by the English language service of state news agency KCNA. It was unclear how such a warning was given since North Korea聽does not have diplomatic ties with Washington.

Experts say聽North Korea is years away from being able to hit the continental聽United States聽with a nuclear weapon, despite having worked for decades to achieve nuclear-arms capability.

North Korea has previously threatened a nuclear strike on the聽United States聽and missile attacks on its Pacific bases, including in聽Guam, a U.S. territory in the Pacific. Those threats followed new U.N. sanctions imposed on the North聽after it carried out its third nuclear test in February.

"Some of the actions they've taken over the last few weeks present a real and clear danger," Hagel told an audience at the聽National Defense University in Washington.

U.S. stocks sank to their lows of the day after Hagel's comments and the聽Guam聽deployment news.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury note briefly dropped below 1.8 percent for the first time since January as investors sought safety in government bonds, driving their prices higher. The dollar strengthened modestly against the euro and yen.

The South Korean won hit a six-month low on Wednesday.

"I would say that people are taking it a lot more seriously than they used to," said Steve Van Order, a fixed income strategist at聽Calvert Investments聽in聽Maryland, referring to the tensions with North Korea.

Despite the rhetoric,听Pyongyang聽has not taken any military action and has shown no sign of preparing its 1.2 million strong armed forces for war, the聽White House聽said on Monday.

That would indicate that its threats are partly intended for domestic consumption to bolster young leader聽Kim Jong-un聽ahead of celebrations marking the anniversary of the birthday of Kim Il-sung, the state's founder and the younger Kim's grandfather, on April 15.

Caitlin Hayden, spokeswoman for the聽White House聽National Security Council, criticised the latest North聽Korean statement.

"It is yet another offering in a long line of provocative statements that only serve to further isolate North Korea聽from the rest of the international community and undermine its goal of economic development," Hayden said.

North Korea had "ratified" a merciless attack against the聽United States, potentially involving a "diversified nuclear strike", the KCNA statement concluded after railing against annual war games between聽South Korea聽and the聽United States聽that run throughout April.

"The moment of explosion is approaching fast. No one can say a war will break out in Korea聽or not and whether it will break out today or tomorrow," the KCNA statement said.

Hagel: Must take threats seriously聽

Hagel said he had to take the threats seriously, language he has used in recent weeks as the聽United States聽has revamped its missile defense plans and positioned two guided-missile destroyers in the western Pacific to bolster missile defense.

罢丑别听United States聽has also flexed its muscle during the military drills with聽South Korea, flying two radar-evading stealth bombers on a first-of-its-kind practice bombing run over聽South Korea.

In the latest move, the聽Pentagon聽said it was deploying a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system to聽Guam聽in the coming weeks. The THAAD system includes a truck-mounted launcher, interceptor missiles and an AN/TPY-2 tracking radar.

Last month, Hagel said the聽Pentagon聽would add 14 new anti-missile interceptors in聽Alaska聽and move ahead with the deployment of a second missile-defense radar in聽Japan.

Adding to tensions, North Korea聽on Wednesday closed access to a joint factory zone with聽South Korea, putting at risk $2 billion a year in trade that is vital to the impoverished state.

It said on Tuesday it would revive a mothballed nuclear reactor able to produce bomb-grade plutonium.

Hagel called聽America's responses so far "measured, responsible, serious" and also said the聽United States聽was working with allies to lower tensions.

"We are doing everything we can, working with the Chinese, others to defuse that situation on the peninsula," he said.

滨苍听Beijing,听China's deputy foreign minister met ambassadors from the聽United States聽and both Koreas to express "serious concern" about the Korean peninsula,听China's Foreign Ministry聽said on Wednesday.

It was a sign that聽China, the North's major benefactor, was increasingly worried about events spinning out of control.

(Additional reporting by David Alexander in Washington and Caroline Valetkevitch in New York. Writing by Dean Yates)