North Korea has said any move by the US to shoot down one of its test missiles would be considered a “declaration of war”.
Kim Yo Jong, the sister of leader Kim Jong Un, also blamed a joint military exercise between the US and South Korea for growing tensions on the peninsula, state media KCNA said on Tuesday.
She also hinted that Pyongyang could fire more missiles into the Pacific Ocean.
Washington and its allies have never shot down any North Korean ballistic missiles, which are banned by the United Nations Security Council, but the question drew new scrutiny since Kim Jong Un’s regime suggested it would fire more missiles over Japan.
“The Pacific Ocean does not belong to the dominium of the US or Japan,” Kim said.
Analysts have warned that if North Korea follows through on its threat to turn the Pacific Ocean into a “firing range“, it would allow the isolated and nuclear-armed state to make technical advances in addition to signalling its military resolve.
In a separate statement, the chief of the Foreign News Section at North Korea’s Foreign Ministry accused the US of “aggravating” the situation by conducting a joint air drill with a B-52 bomber on Monday and planning US-South Korea field exercises.
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In response, South Korea’s Unification Ministry, which handles relations with the North, said Pyongyang’s “reckless nuclear and missile development” is to blame for the deteriorating situation.
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Washington deployed a B-52 bomber for a joint drill with South Korean fighter jets, in what Seoul’s defence ministry said was a show of force against North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.
The two countries will conduct more than 10 days of large-scale military exercises known as the “Freedom Shield” drills starting next week.
On Tuesday, US and South Korean warplanes practised quickly taking off in a drill designed in response to North Korean threats to destroy airfields, Yonhap news agency reported.
The North Korean army said its enemy launched 30 rounds of artillery near the border on Tuesday and it demanded an immediate halt to what it branded “provocative actions”.
South Korea denied doing so and said the claim was groundless.
