Top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea(DPRK) has ratified a strike plan by the Strategic Rocket Force as U.S. B-2 stealth bombers flew over the Korean Peninsula, the KCNA news agency reported Friday.

"The time has come to settle accounts with the U.S. imperialists in view of the prevailing situation" Kim Jong Un was quoted as saying after an urgent meeting with top military officials early Friday.

He ratified a plan of the Strategic Rocket Force for firepower strike on the U.S. mainland, Hawaii and Guam, and South Korea if they"make a reckless provocation," said the KCNA

Kim said the latest U.S. move is"not a simple demonstration of forces" but"an ultimatum that will ignite a nuclear war at any cost on the Korean Peninsula."

Two B-2 Spirit bombers were sent to the Korean Peninsula Thursday for a firing drill but U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel denied that flying the bombers to the peninsula would aggravate the situation in the region.

Tensions have been running high on the Korean Peninsula since the DPRK conducted its third nuclear test on Feb. 12 as a countermeasure against the joint military drills of the United States and South Korea.

The DPRK also threatened to launch a preemptive nuclear strike for self-defense and unilaterally nullified the 1953 armistice that suspended the Korean War.

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea(DPRK) said Tuesday its strategic rocket and long-range artillery units have been ordered to enter combat posture targeting the United States and South Korea.  The Supreme Command of the Korean People's Army said that all the field artillery troops, including strategic rocket units and long-range artillery units, were to be put on the highest alert. The units are combat ready to strike bases"in the U.S. mainland and on Hawaii and Guam and other operational zones in the Pacific as well as all the enemy targets in South Korea and its vicinity," the supreme command said in a statement. (Full story)

The Obama administration on Tuesday dismissed Pyongyang's fresh threats of striking bases in the United States and the Republic of Korea as following a pattern"designed to raise tensions and intimidate others." (Full story)

"North Korea notified us of cutting the north-south military communications hotline through the notice under the name of the head of north-south general-level military talks," South Korea's Ministry of Unification said in a spokesman briefing on Wednesday. (Full story)

The U.S. State Department said on Wednesday that the cut-off of military communications hotline by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea(DPRK) was"not constructive.""We think their latest threats to cut off communication links coupled with its provocative rhetoric is not constructive to ensuring peace and stability on the peninsula," said State Department spokesman Patrick Ventrell at a briefing. But he meanwhile noted that the channel for the United States to communicate with the DPRK was"still in place." (Full story)

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Wednesday spoke by phone with his South Korean counterpart Kim Kwan-jin to discuss the heightened tension on the Korean Peninsula, the Pentagon said. (Full story)

Top leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea(DPRK) says his rocket forces are ready"to settle accounts with the U.S." in response to U.S. nuclear-capable B-2 bombers joined military drills with South Korea. Kim Jong Un's comments in a meeting with senior generals early Friday are part of a rising tide of threats meant to highlight anger over the drills and recent U.N. sanctions over Pyongyang's nuclear test. (Full story)