Seoul, Feb 4 (IANS/EFE): North Korea Wednesday threatened to carry out nuclear and cyber warfare in retaliation for alleged aggression by the US, which it accused of toughening its hostile policy and planning to overthrow the Pyongyang regime.

Pyongyang's National Defence Commission insisted that its powerful armed forces possessed smaller, more precise and diversified nuclear weapons to unleash a nightmare in the US in case of a conflict, according to a statement published by the state-controlled KCNA news agency.

Pyongyang referred to the US government as a "gangster" and criticised President Barak Obama's recent prediction of the downfall of the North Korean government.

About a month earlier, the US had announced additional sanctions against the communist nation and also the possibility of including it on a new blacklist of countries sponsoring terrorism.

With regards to the latest sanctions by the US, North Korea considers that Washington has toughened its hostile policy towards Pyongyang and has focused on bringing down the country's regime.

It was for this reason, Pyongyang claimed, that it rejected the possibility of bilateral talks with its main enemy.

These new threats from the regime come days after the US opened up to the possibility of participating in bilateral talks on North Korea's nuclear programme, which is Washington's main concern regarding the regime.

The US has toughened its stance against Pyongyang since the cyber-attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment late last year.

Washington blamed North Korean hackers for the incident, which it believed was done in retribution for “The Interview”, a movie that caricatured North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.