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 PYONGYANG, North Korea — North Korea has warned that it may carry out further nuclear tests and says it is prepared to launch a preemptive strike on the United States if U.S. nuclear forces mobilize against it. 
 
 "The U.S. has nuclear weapons off our coast, targeting our country, our capital and our Dear Leader, Kim Jong Un," a top North Korean official, Lee Yong Pil, said in an exclusive interview with NBC News. 
 
 "We will not step back as long as there's a nuclear threat to us from the United States," added Lee, who is director of the Foreign Ministry's Institute for American Studies. 
 
 "A preemptive nuclear strike is not something the U.S. has a monopoly on," he said. "If we see that the U.S. would do it to us, we would do it first. ... We have the technology." 
 
 Such threats have been a staple of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un since he took power after his father's death in 2011. U.S. officials do not believe Pyongyang possesses weapons able to reach the continental United States. 
 
 Lee also warned that North Korea may carry out "a sixth, a seventh or an eighth" nuclear test. 
 
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 Lee said his government's stance was being driven by "the increasingly aggressive" drills by the United States and the South. 
 
 The comments came as Washington and Seoul conducted joint naval exercises off the Korean peninsula. The South Korean military told the country's Yonhap news agency that one of the drills scheduled to end later this monthinvolved targeting the North's nuclear facilities. 
 
 For its part, North Korea has accelerated its nuclear program, carrying out its fourth and fifth tests this year. The International Atomic Energy Agency called the moves "deeply troubling" and "regrettable." 
 
 Putting the world on notice of another nuclear test would anger the international community, most of which is already considering further sanctions against the reclusive nation for its activity so far. 
 
 Lee said neither sanctions from the United Nations nor U.S. pressure would stop North Korea's building its arsenal. 
 
 "We have to have nuclear weapons to protect our country, and it's our policy to go nuclear," he added. 
 
 Related: Inside North Korea's DMZ, the Front Line of Unfinished War 
 
 Another North Korean official told NBC News that the reclusive nation already has the capability to reach the U.S. mainland with a rocket. Hwang Yongnam, who is authorized to speak about the country's missile program, said the Pentagon is lying when it says the North cannot yet reach the continental United States with a weapon. 
 
 But it's not just weapons the country's interested in, according to Ri Won Hyok, a senior official involved in North Korea's fledgling space program. 
 
 Ri said that Pyongyang is also launching rockets to carry satellites into space and that "in the future our goal is not just going to the moon, but to the other planets." 
 
 He denied that the country's rocket program has had help from Russia or Iran, claiming "it's 100 percent our own." 
 
 U.S. scientists believe that none of North Korea's launches so far have included any fully functioning satellites. ||||| Pyongyang is ready to launch a preemptive nuclear strike against the US if it sees that Washington is planning to target their country, a top North Korean official said, adding that the country is capable of conducting more nuclear tests. 
 
 READ MORE: N. Korea threatens US with ‘nuclear hammers of justice’ after missile test 
 
 “The US has nuclear weapons off our coast, targeting our country, our capital and our Dear Leader, Kim Jong-un,” Lee Yong-pil, a director of the Foreign Ministry’s Institute for American Studies, told NBC News. 
 
 North Korea warns it's prepared to use nuclear weapons first https://t.co/176vFe7OCP — NBC News World News (@NBCNewsWorld) October 17, 2016 
 
 According to the Pyongyang official, the North “will not step back as long as there’s a nuclear threat” to North Korea from the US. 
 
 “A preemptive nuclear strike is not something the US has a monopoly on… If we see that the US would do it to us, we would do it first… We have the technology.” 
 
 Lee said that the North’s nuclear policy was prompted by “the increasingly aggressive” military drills conducted by Seoul and Washington. Pyongyang may carry out “a sixth, a seventh or an eighth” nuclear test, he added. 
 
 “We have to have nuclear weapons to protect our country, and it’s our policy to go nuclear.” 
 
 Tensions on the Korean peninsula have been running high since the beginning of 2016, as North Korea has been conducting nuclear and ballistic missile tests in violation of UN resolutions. 
 
 The situation has worsened since Washington’s recent decision to deploy sophisticated nuclear-capable bombers at its base on Guam in the western Pacific and the announcement of the deployment of THAAD missile systems in South Korea. 
 
 N. Korea chides US for ‘laughable’ sanction threats after Pyongyang’s latest nuclear test https://t.co/8U5AnNLUZU — RT (@RT_com) September 11, 2016 
 
 Pyongyang has repeatedly said that it is ready to battle the US “with nuclear hammers of justice” and that the North has all the resources necessary to battle US “nuclear hegemony.” 
 
 In September, Pyongyang confirmed it conducted its fifth nuclear test, announcing it is now capable of mounting nuclear warheads on ballistic rockets. Earlier, a powerful explosion measured 5.3 in magnitude was reported at the site of North Korea’s bomb tests by the US Geological Survey (USGS), triggering reports of an apparent nuclear test. 
 
 READ MORE: N. Korea claims satellite-capable rocket engine test 
 
 The test angered South Korea whose president, Park Geun-hye, accused North Korean leader Kim Jong-un of “maniacal recklessness” for pursuing their nuclear weapons program despite severe sanctions imposed on the North by the UN for repeated violations of the Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). 
 
 The September test appears to be the most powerful in the history of North Korea’s nuclear program (20-30 kilotons), according to estimates from South Korea’s Defense Ministry and data from various science and technology universities across the globe. The yield of the previous January 2016 test was about 6-10 kilotons. Earlier tests were conducted in 2013 (6-16 kilotons), 2009 (2-5 kilotons) and 2006 (1-2 kilotons). 
 
 North Korea’s latest test was harshly criticized by world powers. Russia accused Pyongyang of threatening the security of the Korean Peninsula and the entire region through its policies. 
 
 “We insist that North Korea stop its dangerous adventurism, abide by all resolutions of the UN Security Council, cease its nuclear missile programs and re-join the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement in September. 
 
 China vowed to lodge a diplomatic protest with North Korea’s Embassy. Its official news agency, Xinhua, said that all international parties should exercise restraint, stressing that no country will benefit from chaos or war on the Korean peninsula.
– A top North Korean official says that the US has nukes positioned off its coast aimed at "our country, our capital, and our Dear Leader," notes the country won't back down from this threat, and warns it might even take the first step if it feels provoked. "A preemptive nuclear strike is not something the US has a monopoly on," Lee Yong Pil, director of the country's Institute for American Studies, tells NBC News. "If we see that the US would do it to us, we would do it first. … We have the technology." Lee also suggests that North Korea may carry out even more nuclear tests if the US and South Korea don't back off of their "increasingly aggressive" drills. In addition to those drills, the North isn't happy about the arrival of a US aircraft carrier to Busan, South Korea, just hours before its failed missile launch on Friday. It's not the first time North Korea has talked a tough game against the US, noting previously it was ready to take on the America's "nuclear hegemony" with its own "nuclear hammers of justice," per RT.com. The North performed its last major act of what Seoul called "fanatic recklessness" on Sept. 9, when it carried out a nuclear test that caused a 5.3-magnitude earthquake. NBC notes that pushing a warning out about another possible test will likely only infuriate the rest of the world and perhaps result in further sanctions against the rogue state. The Pentagon, meanwhile, seems confident that North Korea doesn't yet have the capability to reach the US mainland with a long-range missile, although a North Korean official authorized to speak about the country's missile program says the US is fibbing about that.