North Korea posters boast US in 'strike range' of missiles

SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea released propaganda posters on Thursday boasting that the U.S. mainland "is within our strike range!" and condemning United Nations sanctions over its recent missile tests.

The colorful posters and defiant slogans are the latest sign of the tensions between Washington and Pyongyang over the North's nuclear weapons program. Military images and fiery anti-U.S. messages are common in North Korean propaganda.

One of the posters shows a barrage of missiles fired from launchers toward a map of the United States in flames. The blue-lettered slogan reads: "All of the U.S. mainland is within our strike range!"

Another has a torn American flag with the labels "Military option. Pre-emptive strike. Sanctions resolution." Red missiles emerge from a North Korean flag with the words: "Our answer!"

The KCNA state news agency did not say why the posters were being released now.

U.S. President Donald Trump warned North Korea last week it would face "fire and fury" if it threatened the United States, prompting North Korea to say it was considering plans to fire missiles toward the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam.

Trump later praised North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for a "wise" decision after he delayed the Guam decision.

Another of the posters denounced U.N. sanctions and hailed North Korea's self reliance. "No one can stop our way!," it read.

The U.N. Security Council unanimously imposed new sanctions on North Korea on Aug. 5 that could slash by a third the Asian state's $3 billion annual export revenue over its two intercontinental ballistic missile tests in July.

"What is typical in these posters is the image of an undaunted, fierce North Korea that is not fazed by the moves by the United States or the United Nations," Koen de Ceuster, an expert on North Korea at the University of Leiden, told Reuters.

"It reinforces the images of the strides North Korea made in missile capability and how North Korea is undaunted by any challenges to its sovereignty.” he said. — Reuters