North Korea warned on Tuesday that the U.S. mainland, as well as South Korea, Japan and Guam, are within its striking range in its first response to the recent Seoul-Washington agreement on the South’s ballistic missile range extension.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the North’s National Defense Commission called the deal an attempt “to light the fuse of a war by a northbound invasion.”

“Our revolutionary, strong military including the strategic rocket force accurately puts within striking range the stronghold of the puppet South Korea, Japan, Guam and all the way to the U.S. mainland,” he was quoted as saying by state media including Korean Central Television.

“We are thoroughly ready to deal with the U.S., its puppets and all the other followers, with nuclear arms when they mobilize them, and with missiles when they are mobilized.”

Having led the negotiations with Washington, Cheong Wa Dae announced Sunday that the allies agreed to revise the 2001 guideline to allow Seoul to develop ballistic missiles with a range of up to 800 km, up from the previous 300 km.

The extended range, from South Korea’s central region, covers all military sites in the communist state. Seoul and Washington had been in intense talks since early last year to better deal with North Korea’s increasing missile threats.

The North has deployed its longest-range ballistic Musudan missile with a range of 3,000-4,000 km since 2007. The Musudan, in theory, brings Guam, a key U.S. strategic base in the Asia-Pacific region, within its range.

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)