video transcript

North Korea on Thursday threatened the United States with a preemptive nuclear strike. The increased rhetoric comes as the UN Security Council is considering new sanctions against the reclusive state. North Korea has accused the United States of using military drills in South Korea as a launch pad for a nuclear war - and has scrapped the armistice that ended hostilities in 1953. A newsreader on North Korea's state broadcaster KRT read out the foreign ministry statement. (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) UNIDENTIFIED KRT NEWSREADER SAYING: "Since the United States is about to ignite a nuclear war, we will be exercising our right to preemptive nuclear attack against the headquarters of the aggressor in order to protect our supreme interest." North Korea, though, threatens the United States and South Korea on a daily basis - and it's widely believed they don't have the capability to launch a nuclear strike on the U.S. mainland. The United States has about 30,000 troops in South Korea to support the country's 650,000-strong armed forces. The North has some 1.2 million troops, mostly stationed along the border.