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US Pacific Command are worried the island of Oahu is a strategic and symbolic target for Kim Jong-un, as tensions between the countries intensify.



Air Force General Lori Robinson, said: “North Korea's unprecedented level of nuclear testing and ballistic missile development offers a sobering reminder that the US must remain vigilant against rogue nation-states that are able to threaten the homeland.”

GETTY North Korean state media have repeatedly mentioned they will attack if aggression continues

We have to keep a lookout for that (the nuclear threat) General Vern Miyagi

The secretive states media warned on Tuesday that it will defend itself against any US aggression.



General Vern Miyagi said: “We have to keep a lookout for that (the nuclear threat). That is why we are talking about updating the plan. It's an awakening. Maybe we should get involved.”

America and South Korea prepare for war against North Korea Tue, April 11, 2017 U.S. and South Korean marines participate in the endurance exercise in temperature below minus 20 degrees celsius under a scenario to defend the country from any possible attacks from North Korea. Play slideshow 1 of 22

Tensions between North Korea and the US have escalated rapidly after a US Navy strike group was deployed towards the Korean peninsula in a show of military force.



White House press secretary Sean Spicer just told a press briefing president Donald Trump has clearly put Pyongyang “on notice”.





The two star general continued: “The bottom line in our plan right now, is close coordination with Pacific Command, the military side, so that we understand what's happening, and we can prepare for it with what we have, and what we have right now is very thin.”



During the Cold War, the state envisioned moving hundreds of thousands of Oahu residents to the neighbouring islands if things heated up with the Soviet Union.

However, a North Korean ballistic missile could reach Hawaii in under 20 minutes with no warning, experts say.



Robinson, who is also the North American Aerospace Defence commander, said 2016 was “one of the North Korea’s most active years in terms of nuclear weapon and missile program development”.

GETTY Hawaii had a series of bomb shelters built during the Cold War but they have fallen into disrepair

She added that North Korea is “in pursuit of weaponising a nuclear ballistic missile capable of reaching the US”.



A foreign ministry statement from the North Korean government on KCNA said: “We will hold the US wholly accountable for the catastrophic consequences to be entailed by its outrageous actions.

GETTY Spicer told the press that the US will not tolerate the actions of North Korea