Kim Jong-un has thrown the gauntlet to Donald Trump, saying that North Korea will wait a little before opting to fire missiles towards the US Pacific territory of Guam to see what the "foolish Yankees" do next.
North Korean state media KCNA said Kim had reviewed a previously announced plan to fire four missiles on a trajectory over western Japan, but had decided not to go ahead with the proposal for now.
Kim had "examined the (strike) plan for a long time and discussed it with the commanding officers in real earnest. And now has put the onus to act on Trump, saying Kim would "watch a little more the foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees".
"The US imperialists caught the noose around their necks due to their reckless military confrontation racket," KCNA cited the leader as saying, adding that he "would watch a little more the foolish and stupid conduct of the Yankees spending a hard time of every minute of their miserable lot".
Kim Jong-un advised Washington "to take into full account gains and losses with clear head" as further confrontation is "unfavourable for any party".
"In order to defuse the tensions and prevent the dangerous military conflict on the Korean Peninsula, it is necessary for the US to make a proper option first and show it through action, as it committed provocations after introducing huge nuclear strategic equipment into the vicinity of the peninsula," the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported, as cited by KCNA Watch on Tuesday.
The comments came after US Secretary of Defense James Mattis warned that if North Korea fired on US territory it would be "game on".
"You don't shoot at people in this world unless you want to bear the consequences," CNN quoted Mattis as saying in Pentagon.
