North Korea issues warning as US strike group heads to Korean Peninsula

Complicated scenario on North Korea issues warning as US strike group heads to Korean Peninsula

North Koreans pose for a photograph at Mangyongdae, which is the birthplace of their late founder Kim Il Sung.

North Korea warned Monday it would respond to "reckless acts of aggression" by the United States, with "whatever methods the US wants to take," as a US aircraft carrier strike group headed toward the Korean Peninsula.

The Pentagon is sending the 97,000-ton USS Carl Vinson with an escort of a guided-missile cruiser and two destroyers following another missile test by North Korea last week.

According to a statement provided to CNN by officials in Pyongyang, the "current grim situation" justifies Pyongyang's "self-defensive and pre-emptive strike capabilities with the nuclear force at the core."

"We will make the US fully accountable for the catastrophic consequences that may be brought about by its high-handed and outrageous acts," the statement said.

On Tuesday, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is expected to attend the country's Supreme People's Assembly, a high-profile gathering of the nation's leading political figures.

The meeting comes days before North Korea celebrates the April 15 birthday of deceased leader Kim Il Sung, Kim's grandfather -- amid speculation that Pyongyang will mark the occasion with by testing missiles or possibly a nuclear device.