Anchor: Just a week after Kim Jong-un discussed his country's efforts to gain a missile capability to hit the U.S. mainland, the regime's Foreign Ministry said that a test launch will come at a time and place chosen by its leadership. The U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter said that his military is ready to shoot down a missile approaching the U.S. or its ally's territory.
Kim Bum-soo has more. 

Report: [Sound bite: KCTV News (Jan. 8, 2016)]

North Korea has again intensified its threat to test-launch an intercontinental ballistic missile(ICBM).

Just a week after leader Kim Jong-un discussed his regime's efforts to gain the capability to strike the U.S. mainland, the North Korean Foreign Ministry said a long-range missile launch will come at a time and place of its leader's choice.

In an interview with the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency on Sunday, a ministry spokesman said that the enemy should take on a new mindset to deal with Pyongyang.

[Sound bite: KCTV News (Jan. 8, 2016)]

The Pyongyang official argued that the intercontinental missile program is to defend the nation against the U.S.' threats, rebuking that the U.S. distorted a defense preparation as a provocation.

In the wake of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's warning on Twitter that the North won't be able to attain the cross-continental striking capability, the North Korean official claimed that the regime's nuclear advancement came at a pace that defies common sense.

Meanwhile, over in Washington, U.S. Defense Secretary Ashton Carter vowed to shoot down a North Korean missile if it threatens the U.S. or its allies.

Appearing on NBC’s Meet the Press on Sunday, Carter said the U.S. tries to stay one step ahead of the North Koreans.

[Sound bite: U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter (Korean)]
"If it were coming, if it were threatening to us, yes. That is, if it's predicted impact on one of our friends or allies, yes, we would shoot it down."
"We're ready to defend the Korean Peninsula and defend our friends and interests there. So in the defense department, our job is to stay one step ahead of the North Koreans."

He also assured of Washington's capability to protect itself and its allies with the deployment of missile defenses in South Korea, Japan and Guam.
Kim Bum-soo, KBS World Radio News. 

[Photo : ]