North Korea yesterday vowed to launch a pre-emptive nuclear strike against the US, amplifying its threatening rhetoric hours ahead of a vote by UN diplomats on whether to level new sanctions against Pyongyang for its recent nuclear test.

An unidentified spokesman for the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the North will exercise its right for “a pre-emptive nuclear attack to destroy the strongholds of the aggressors” because Washington is pushing to start a nuclear war against Pyongyang.