The North Korean military said on Tuesday that the US mainland was within the strike range of its strategic missile forces, Xinhua reported citing North Korea’s official KCNA news agency as saying.

“Strategic forces of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea [DPRK] have placed the US forces on the Korean Peninsula, Japan, Guam and even the U.S. mainland within its target range,” KCNA quoted a spokesperson from DPRK’s National Defense Commission.

The announcement comes in a wake of a report that South Korea has reached a new missile deal with the United States, allowing Seoul to develop longer-range ballistic missiles capable of striking all of North Korea with stronger warheads.

In October 2006, North Korea became the world’s eighth nuclear power, conducting an underground nuclear weapons test.

Although the country’s nuclear program and its development of long-range missile systems has been condemned by the international community, Pyongyang has vowed to continue its controversial missile development program.

North Korea has already deployed a number of domestically-built missiles, including some capable of hitting the American territory of Guam in the Pacific, in addition to South Korea and Japan.

In April, North Korea launched its long-range Unha-3 rocket allegedly carrying a satellite on board. Although the rocket failed to put the satellite into orbit, the United States and its allies condemned the launch as a cover for developing intercontinental ballistic missiles.