N. Korea leader orders nuclear arsenal on 'standby'

Leader Kim Jong-Un has ordered North Korea's nuclear arsenal to be readied for pre-emptive use at any time, in an expected escalation of military rhetoric following the UN Security Council's adoption of tough new sanctions on Pyongyang.
 
The North's nuclear warheads must be deployed "on standby so as to be fired at any moment," Kim was quoted as saying by the North's official KCNA news agency on March 4.
 
He also warned that the situation on the divided Korean peninsula had become so dangerous that the North needed to shift its military strategy to one of "pre-emptive attack".
 
Such bellicose rhetoric is almost routine for North Korea at times of elevated tensions.
 
While the North is known to have a small stockpile of nuclear warheads, experts are divided about its ability to mount them on a working missile delivery system.
 
Washington downplayed Kim's threat as posturing.
 
"We have not seen North Korea test or demonstrate the ability to miniaturise a nuclear weapon and put it on an ICBM (intercontinental ballistic missile)," a US defence official told AFP.
 
Still, the official added, "our forces are ready to counter-eliminate strikes if necessary".
         
In Seoul, President Park Geun-Hye promised South Korea would mete out "stern punishment" in the event of any North Korea provocation as she warned of a "fiercer" backlash than usual from Pyongyang over the latest UN sanctions.
 
According to KCNA, Kim made his comments while monitoring the test firing of a new, high-caliber multiple rocket launcher on March 3, just hours after the UN Security Council unanimously adopted the US-drafted resolution penalizing the North for its fourth nuclear test in January and long...