N.Korea considers missile strike on Guam after Trump's 'fire and fury' warning
North Korea said on Wednesday it is considering plans for a missile strike on the US Pacific territory of Guam, just hours after President Donald Trump told the North that any threat to the United States would be met with "fire and fury".
The sharp increase in tensions rattled financial markets and prompted warnings from US officials and analysts not to engage in rhetorical slanging matches with North Korea.
Pyongyang said it was "carefully examining" a plan to strike Guam, which is home to about 163,000 people and a US military base that includes a submarine squadron, an airbase and a Coast Guard group.
A Korean People's Army spokesman said in a statement carried by state-run KCNA news agency the plan would be put into practice at any moment once leader Kim Jong Un makes a decision.
Guam Governor Eddie Calvo dismissed the North's threat and said the island was prepared for "any eventuality" with strategically placed defences. He said he had been in touch with the White House and there was no change in the threat level.
"Guam is American soil ... We are not just a military installation," Calvo said in an online video message.
North Korea also accused the United States of devising a "preventive war" and said in another statement, citing a different military spokesman, any plans to execute this would be met with an "all-out war wiping out all the strongholds of enemies, including the US mainland".
