State Department on North Korea: War of words 'does not need to get hotter'

The missiles aren't capable of carrying a nuclear warhead, however they do have a range of about 2000 miles which means they are within reach of South Korea. NBC's Richard Engel reports.

By Becky Bratu, Staff Writer, NBC News

The State Department Thursday said the United States had to take necessary defensive steps in light of North Korea's escalating threats, but emphasized that it can "change course" if North Korea tames its rhetoric.

"The moves that we have been making are designed to ensure and to reassure the American people and our allies that we can defend the United States, that we will and that we can defend our allies," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said. "It was the ratcheting up of tensions on the DPRK side that caused us to need to shore up our own defense posture."

Experts say a ground war with North Korea would be devastating, with 700,000 North Korean soldiers aiming thousands of rockets and artillery at South Korea. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski reports.

Nuland also said that while the U.S. takes North Korea's "bellicose threats" seriously, the situation on the Korean Peninsula "does not need to get hotter."

"But we have also been saying all the way through that this does not need to get hotter, that we can change course here if the DPRK will begin to come back into compliance with its international obligations, will begin to cool things down, take a pause," she added.

The North is "wrong-headed" if it thinks these threats will help them get aid from the international community and its rhetoric will only lead to further isolation of the country, Nuland said.

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A U.S. intelligence officer said Thursday that North Korea was moving a medium-range missile to a site in the east of the country. The official declined to say where the Musudan missile was headed, but the North has used a site near the Russian border on the coast for its missile tests in the past.

The news came hours after North Korea's military warned that it had been authorized to attack the U.S. using "smaller, lighter and diversified" nuclear weapons -- the latest in a string of war cries against America in recent weeks.

"The moment of explosion is approaching fast,? the military statement said.

The statement, which was carried by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), informed the White House and the Pentagon that "the merciless operation of its revolutionary armed forces in this regard has been finally examined and ratified."

It also made reference to U.S. jet sorties over the Korean Peninsula, which Pentagon officials have said are part of routine, joint military drills with South Korea.

NBC News' Catherine Chomiak contributed to this report.

Related:

North Korea moves missile to east as nuclear crisis escalates

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