N. KOREA SHOWS WAR HAND
Says it will bomb U.S. as pre-emptive strike

SEOUL--North Korea official national media says the communist state has the right to launch a pre-emptive attack against U.S.-backed South Korean forces because the two Koreas are technically still at war.
The comments were sparked by North Korea’s anger over the annual joint South Korean-U.S. military exercises, which Pyongyang says are a preparation for an invasion of its territory.
A spokesman for the North's Korea People's Army (KPA) says distrust is high between the United States and North Korea, with the official news agency reporting Pyongyang "will never remain a passive onlooker to the U.S. pre-emptive attack on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)."
The 1950-1953 Korean War ended in a truce - and not a peace treaty - meaning the two Koreas are technically still at war.
There are currently about 30,000 U.S. troops in South Korea in support of some 690,000 South Korean troops. The North has about 1.2 million troops.
According to the report, U.S. and South Korean forces will stage annual field exercises from March 25 to March 31 designed to coordinate defenses of the southern half of the peninsula.