North Korea has branded a US security document citing the possible use of "overwhelming force" against Pyongyang as "criminal", state media report.
Its foreign ministry accused President Donald Trump of seeking "the total subordination of the world" with his new US national security strategy.
Mr Trump said on Monday that Washington had to deal with the challenge posed by Pyongyang's weapons programmes.
It comes as the UN is due to vote on tougher sanctions against North Korea.
A spokesman for the North Korean foreign ministry said the US national security strategy was "nothing but the proclamation of aggression", state news agency KCNA reports.
He accused the US of attempting to "stifle our country and turn the entire Korean peninsula into an outpost for seeking that hegemony".