North Korea on Saturday denounced a possible move by the United States to test fire an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) later in the month, calling it a serious military provocation.

The Rodong Sinmun, an organ of the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea said in a article monitored in Seoul, the launch, if it takes place, will be an insult to the international community and a direct threat to Pyongyang.

 The daily, which effectively reflects the views of the communist country, said the ICBM test can only be seen as a prelude to a pre-emptive invasion of countries the U.S. wants to strike.

“The U.S. is trying foolishly to intimidate us with the ICBM launch,” the paper claimed, and pointed out that Washington is not the only country capable of launching long-range missiles.

 It then said Pyongyang has the means to make U.S. ICBM's useless and made clear that if its sovereignty is violated by just "0.001 millimeter," the communist country will take measures to "annihilate the heart of the attackers with unbelievably strong force." It did not say if it will use nuclear weapons, but the country has been threatening to hit both South Korea and the U.S. with nuclear weapons if it is provoked.

On Feb. 12 the country detonated it third nuclear device and launched a long range rocket last year that may have a range of over 10,000 kilometers.

The report comes as there have been some media reports that Washington may be moving to conduct a launch test with its Minuteman-3 missile next week from its Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

Initially Washington had scheduled the test for earlier in the month, but it had been put off, in what many experts said may be a move not to antagonize the North. The country had started to tone down its saber rattling tactics in the past few weeks after South Korea and the United States concluded the annual Foal Eagle military drills on April 30. (Yonhap News)