North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has been briefed on a plan to strike the area around Guam, according to the country's official news agency on Monday.
Kim said he will wait a while longer before making a decision on whether to strike, Reuters reports. He had visited a military command post, where senior officers presented him with a military attack plan.
"The United States, which was the first to bring numerous strategic nuclear equipment near us, should first make the right decision and show through actions if they wish to ease tensions on the Korean peninsula and prevent a dangerous military clash," Kim said, according to the state-run Korean Central News Agency.
Kim also ordered that the military should be "fire-ready," in case he decides to give the order at any moment.
But North Korea clarified Tuesday that Kim has decided not to fire on the U.S. island territory as he waits to see what the U.S. does.
"He said that if the Yankees persist in their extremely dangerous reckless actions on the Korean peninsula and in its vicinity, testing the self-restraint of the DPRK, the latter will make an important decision as it already declared," the KCNA report said.
Defense Secretary James Mattis also spoke out on Monday regarding the U.S.'s ongoing tensions with Pyongyang. Addressing reporters at the Pentagon, Mattis made clear that a strike on Guam would be considered a strike on the United States and an act of war.
"If they shoot at the United States, I'm assuming they hit the United States. If they do that, it's game on," he said.
"I think if they fire at the United States it could escalate into war very quickly. Yes, that's called war, if they shoot at us," he said.
Mattis retained the tough line on North Korea that he and others in the Trump administration have been taking.
"You don't shoot at people in this world. You don't shoot at people in this world unless you want to bear the consequences," he said.
UPDATED Aug. 15, 9:45 A.M.: This post was updated to note that North Korea has decided not to attack Guam.