North Korea threatens nuclear strike as US, Seoul begin military exercise

North Korea has threatened to turn Washington and Seoul into 'flames and ashes' as the joint military drills between the two nations began today and warned of an indiscriminate pre-emptive nuclear strike.

Such threats from Pyongyang's leader Kim Jong Un has been a common one, since he took power after the dead of his dictator father in 2011. His threat of using nuclear strikes tends to increase when Washington and Seoul stage what they call annual defensive springtime war games.

Pyongyang said that the drills between the two allies are rehearsals for invading.

The country's National Defence Commission threatened against targets in the Seoul, US bases in the Pacific and the US mainland in an assumption that its enemies were working to infringe upon the dignity, sovereignty and vital rights of North Korea.

"If we push the buttons to annihilate the enemies even right now, all bases of provocations will be reduced to seas in flames and ashes in a moment," the North's statement said, reported Guardian.

Meanwhile, there is considerable debate outside whether Pyongyang is even capable of the kind of strikes it threatens.

North Korea conducted its fourth nuclear test in January and launched its long-range rocket a month later.

Following North Korea's move relations with Seoul and Washington further soured.

The US-drafted UN resolution recently adopted by the Security Council laid out the toughest sanctions imposed on Pyongyang to date over its nuclear weapons program that will, if implemented effectively, apply significant economic pressure to Kim's regime.

South Korea says it will announce new unilateral sanctions on Tuesday.

Meanwhile as the joint military exercise touted as the largest involving 300,000 South Korean military personnel and 17,000 from the United States kicked off and will run through the end of April, analysts say one part of North Korea's traditional anger over the drills is that they force the impoverished country to respond with its own costly war games.

South Korean Defence Ministry Spokesman, Moon Sang Gyun responding to Pyongyang'S threat, said that North Korea must refrain a rash act that brings destruction upon itself.