The Rodong Sinmun, the newspaper of the ruling Workers' Party of Korea, said Sunday that if the United States "ignites a nuclear war," North Korea will "exercise the right to a pre-emptive nuclear attack to destroy the strongholds of the aggressors," adding that Japan "will never be of an exception," the official Korean Central News Agency reported.
The assertion was contained in a bylined article blasting "Japanese reactionaries" for calling for "independent additional sanctions" against North Korea.
"It would be a fatal mistake for Japan if it thinks it will be safe when a war breaks out on the Korean Peninsula and when its 'Self-Defense Forces' take part in the war," the article said, according to KCNA.
"Japan will never be of an exception as it watches for a chance for the reinvasion of Korea after leaving the whole archipelago to the mercy of the U.S. imperialists seeking aggression of the DPRK," it added.
The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is the communist North's official name. South Korea is officially known as the Republic of Korea.