North Korea threatened the United States with a 'shameful defeat' early Friday in a statement.

Pyongyang vowed to "wipe out the provocateurs" and said the U.S. would suffer a "shameful defeat and final doom if it persists in the extreme military venture, sanctions, and pressure."

North Korea said it was readying missile launch plans on the Pacific territory of Guam, a key US military outpost in the western Pacific.

The communist state also said the scheme was intended to "signal a crucial warning" as "only absolute force" would have an effect on a U.S. leader "bereft of reason."