North Korea has threatened to preemptively attack the U.S. if Washington and Seoul move ahead with their plan to launch a preemptive strike on the North’s nuclear facility.

The Institute For American Studies under the North’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Tuesday that it does not lightly take the issuance of a report in the U.S. that calls for a preemptive military attack on the North, including the “decapitation operation” of its supreme leadership.

The institute claimed the hostile U.S. policy toward the North and its incessant threat of nuclear war has only resulted in Pyongyang's strengthening its nuclear capacity, adding the North has been equipped with sufficient military power to handle the U.S. threat.

It also argued that the North’s military and the public have a stern resolution to respond to any  slight move by the U.S.

South Korean and U.S. authorities recently reached a tentative agreement that they will deploy a three-stage deterrence strategy against the North’s nuclear program, involving a preemptive strike option against the North’s nuclear facility.