Threats from North Korea against the U.S. continue to escalate as President Donald Trump is also using strong words against the country.

  • North Korea's threats against Guam gets strong reactions from US lawmakers

Despite regular North Korean threats against Guam, a U.S. territory in the Pacific about 2,100 miles (3,400 kilometers) from the Korean Peninsula, it is extremely unlikely that Pyongyang would risk the assured annihilation of its revered leadership with a pre-emptive attack on U.S. citizens.

It is also not clear how reliable North Korea’s mid-range missiles would be in an attack against a distant target given the relatively few times they have been tested.

The North Korean army said in a statement that it is studying a plan to create an “enveloping fire” in areas around Guam with medium- to long-range ballistic missiles. The statement described Andersen Air Force Base on Guam as a “beachhead” for a potential U.S. invasion of North Korea it needed to neutralize. It was unlikely the North’s threat was a direct response to Trump’s comments to the camera at his golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey. 

This threat comes just a couple of hours after Trump made a hefty threat of his own.

"North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States. They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen," he said.

The way the president is handling North Korea is getting strong reaction from U.S. lawmakers.



Democratic U.S. Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts renewed his call to keep the president from initiating nuclear war.

In January, he introduced legislation that would prohibit the President from launching a nuclear first strike without a declaration of war by Congress.  

The Associated Press contributed to this story.