North Korea: 'outbreak of war hours away' as Kim Jong-un plans US strike

North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un has ordered missile units to prepare to strike US mainland as a British tour operator was warned that the "outbreak of war probably only hours away".

Mr Kim directed his rocket units on standby at an overnight emergency meeting with top army commanders Photo: Reuters

By Barney Henderson, and agencies

3:50PM GMT 29 Mar 2013

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The order came after US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Washington would not be cowed by Pyongyang's bellicose threats and stood ready to respond to "any eventuality".

Mr Kim directed his rocket units on standby at an overnight emergency meeting with top army commanders, hours after nuclear-capable US B-2 stealth bombers were deployed in ongoing US joint military drills with South Korea.

In the event of any "reckless" US provocation, North Korean forces should "mercilessly strike the US mainland ... military bases in the Pacific, including Hawaii and Guam, and those in South Korea", he was quoted as saying by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

While North Korea has no proven ability to conduct such strikes, Mr Kim said: "The time has come to settle accounts with the US imperialists."

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Meanwhile, Dylan Harris, director of Lupine Travel, which specialises in holidays to unusual places like Iran, Chernobyl and Siberia, received an email on Friday morning.

It said US stealth bomber flights over the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DRPK) had made the situation "critical with the outbreak of war probably only hours away". It was not clear who the email was from.

There is currently a British golfer in Pyongyang as part of a group holiday.

Mr Harris said: "I contacted the Foreign Office and if they say it's unsafe we will not travel or organise further trips to North Korea.

"However, there is a group of ten golfers in Pyongyang, which is where the only public golf course is, who are due to fly out of the country tomorrow (Saturday).

"One of them is British and nine are Chinese. I'm in constant touch with them and they are all safe and in good spirits."

"We had planned to organise a golfing tournament in May but with the current situation I don't know if that will go ahead, some customers have already cancelled."

^{Dylan Harris with a North Korean border guard at the Korean Demilitarised Zone (Mercury Press)}

Mr Harris, 34, from Wigan, has been a visitor to North Korea since 2007 and organises golfing trips to the country up to four times a month.

Kim Jong-il, Mr Kim's father and the iconic former dictator of the country, who died in 2011 aged 69, famously played a round at the course in 1994.

It was apparently the first time he had played golf in his life and he shot a hugely impressive 38-under par round that included no fewer than 11 holes in one.

Satisfied with his performance, he reportedly immediately declared his retirement from the sport.