North Korea said Tuesday that its military presented leader Kim Jong Un with plans to launch missiles into waters near Guam and "wring the windpipes of the Yankees" by creating "enveloping fire" near the key US military hub in the Pacific.
The comments, while typically belligerent, are significant because they also appeared to signal a path to defuse a deepening crisis with Washington over a weapons program that is seen as nearing the ability to accurately send a nuclear missile to the US mainland.