North Korea lashed out at the U.S. on Friday, days after President Trump Donald John TrumpSteele Dossier sub-source was subject of FBI counterintelligence probe Pelosi slams Trump executive order on pre-existing conditions: It 'isn't worth the paper it's signed on' Trump 'no longer angry' at Romney because of Supreme Court stance MORE put forward his national security strategy, in which he warned that the U.S. was ready to respond to threats from Pyongyang with "overwhelming force."

A spokesman for North Korea's foreign ministry accused Trump of openly proclaiming Washington's intention of taking military action against the isolated Asian country, and threatened to retaliate with "cannons."

"As the U.S. set its diplomatic and security policy at crushing us militarily and is publicly aiming a sword at us, we will make the U.S. bitterly regret its strategy with our cannons," the spokesman said, according to North Korea's state-run Korean Central News Agency. A translation was provided by South Korea's Yonhap news agency.

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Tensions between the U.S. and North Korea have boiled in Trump's first year in office. Pyongyang has ramped up its tests of intercontinental ballistic missiles and, in September, tested what it said was a hydrogen bomb — its most powerful nuclear weapon to date.

Trump has responded to North Korea's weapons tests with threats of military action. In a speech before the United Nations General Assembly in September, Trump said the U.S. would "totally destroy" North Korea if necessary.

The president revealed his national security strategy on Monday, taking a hard line on North Korea and reiterating his claim that military action against the country was still on the table, though he made no mention of a pre-emptive strike on the North.