North Korea put its artillery and strategic rocket units on combat ready status Tuesday, with orders to prepare for strikes against the US mainland, Hawaii and Guam, state media reported.

North Korea put its artillery and strategic rocket units on combat ready status Tuesday, with orders to prepare for strikes against the US mainland, Hawaii and Guam, state media reported.

A statement from the Korean People's Army supreme command ordered "all artillery troops including strategic rocket units and long-range artillery units to be placed under class-A combat readiness".

The units should be prepared to attack "all US military bases in the Asia-Pacific region, including the US mainland, Hawaii and Guam", as well as South Korea, said the statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency.

The supreme command announcement came days after the South Korean and US militaries signed a new pact, providing for a joint military response to even low-level provocative action by North Korea.