(CNN) -- North Korea's leader has approved a plan to prepare rockets to be on standby for firing at U.S. targets, including the U.S. mainland and military bases in the Pacific and in South Korea, state media reported. In a meeting with military leaders early Friday, Kim Jong Un "said he has judged the time has come to settle accounts with the U.S. imperialists in view of the prevailing situation," the state-run KCNA news agency reported. "If they make a reckless provocation with huge strategic forces, [we] should mercilessly strike the U.S. mainland, their stronghold, their military bases in the operational theaters in the Pacific, including Hawaii and Guam, and those in South Korea," KCNA reported.
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NEW: A North Korean photo shows Kim Jong Un meeting with military officials
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North Korean media: Rockets should be ready to "mercilessly strike" the U.S.
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A Pentagon spokesman urges North Korea to "dial down the temperature"
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"No one wants there to be war on the Korean Peninsula," he says
On the wall behind them, a map entitled "Plan for the strategic forces to target mainland @placeholder" appears to show straight lines stretching across to the Pacific to points on the continental United States.