North Korea moves medium range missile, warns army cleared to wage nuclear war.

                                   New North Korean  'propaganda' vid released.

North Korea moves medium range missile, warns army cleared to wage nuclear war.(TOI).The North Korean army warned Washington Thursday that its military had been cleared to wage an attack using “smaller, lighter and diversified nuclear” weapons.

The statement came shortly before the North Korean army began moving a medium-range missile to the country’s eastern coast, according to a South Korean news agency. The missile, with a 3,000 kilometer range capable of hitting South Korea, Japan and Guam, may be meant as a show of strength by the regime in Pyongyang.

The threat from the unnamed army spokesman early Thursday was latest in a series of escalating warnings from North Korea, which has railed for weeks against joint US and South Korean military exercises taking place in South Korea and has expressed anger over tightened sanctions for a February nuclear test.

The spokesman said in a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency that troops have been authorized to counter US aggression with “powerful practical military counteractions,” including nuclear weapons.

Earlier in the day, the Pentagon said it would set up a missile shield in the Pacific against an attack by Pyongyang.

The delivery of the missile shield system in Guam comes as Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel labeled North Korea’s recent rhetoric as a real, clear danger and threat to the US and its Asia-Pacific allies. The Pentagon chief said the US is doing all it can to defuse the situation.

Deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System is the latest step the US has taken to bolster forces in the region in a far-reaching show of force aimed at countering the North Korean threat.

The Pentagon already has sent dispatched bombers, stealth fighters and ships.

North Korea’s nuclear strike capabilities remain unclear. Pyongyang is believed to be working toward building an atomic bomb small enough to mount on a long-range missile but is thought to be several years from being capable of mastering the technology.

Hagel told an audience at the National Defense University that there is a path to peace on the troubled Korean peninsula, but it doesn’t include making nuclear threats or taking provocative actions.

The land-based missile defense system includes a truck-mounted launcher, tracking radar, interceptor missiles, and an integrated fire control system. The Pentagon said the system will boost defenses for American citizens in Guam, a U.S. territory, and U.S. forces stationed there.Read the full story here.