North Korea issues nuclear threat over military drills

SEOUL — North Korea on Monday issued its latest belligerent threat, warning of an indiscriminate “preemptive nuclear strike of justice” on Washington and Seoul, this time in reaction to the start of major U.S.-South Korean military drills.

The North’s powerful National Defense Commission threatened strikes against targets in the South, U.S. bases in the Pacific and the U.S. mainland, saying its enemies “are working with bloodshot eyes to infringe upon the dignity, sovereignty and vital rights” of North Korea.

The North makes progress with each new nuclear test — it staged its fourth in January — but there’s uncertainty about whether they have mastered the miniaturization process needed to mount bombs on long-range missiles and widespread doubt about whether they have a reliable missile that could deliver such a bomb to the U.S. mainland.