North Korea condemned the U.S. on April 13, warning of retaliation if the latter acts rashly, media reported.

According to the Xinhua News Agency, a North Korean official with the country’s foreign ministry said in a statement on April 13 that North Korea would retaliate to cast “nuclear thunder and punishment lightning” on hostile forces, giving them a “taste of real war.”

The U.S. is reportedly ready to launch a preemptive strike against North Korea if Pyongyang moves forward with its sixth nuclear test, reported NBC News, citing unidentified intelligence officials.

The spokesperson for North Korea's Institute for Disarmament and Peace issued a statement condemning the U.S. for launching military attacks on a sovereign state while “crying out for ‘peace by strength.’”

The spokesperson cited the U.S. attack on Syria, arguing that it constitutes “a blatant violation of international law and an insolent and barbarous act of aggression,” the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. The statement went on to say that the U.S. is disturbing global peace and stability, despite the country's insistence that its action was “decisive, just and appropriate.”

“The U.S. is introducing huge nuclear strategic assets into the Korean peninsula ... seriously threatening the peace and security of the peninsula and pushing the situation there to the brink of a war," KCNA reported, citing the statement. The report continued, "This has created a dangerous situation in which a thermonuclear war may break out at any moment on the peninsula and pose a serious threat to world peace and security."

The statement also criticized the U.S. for test-firing a ballistic missile with a range of 800 kilometers in South Korea, which could act as a strategic asset for "removing the headquarters in the north.”

“This situation reinforces the historical truth that peace is not offered by others, but has to be defended with one's own strength. It reaffirms the choice made by the DPRK when it decided to drastically bolster its nuclear force while tightening its belt. Nothing would be more childish and foolish than for the U.S. to dream of ‘bringing down the social system’ in the DPRK through ‘cooperation’ with someone else,” KCNA reported.