UN has declared war, says N Korea
NORTH Korea said today the new UN resolution imposing sanctions on the country was a "declaration of war" and warned it would strike back at any nations that try to tighten the screws on its regime.
In its first reaction since Saturday when the UN Security Council voted unanimously to punish the North for testing an atom bomb, it said having a nuclear weapon was its right and completely rejected the Council's decision.
It also lashed out at the US, whose threats, according to Pyongyang, have made the development of a nuclear weapons arsenal necessary.
"We will deliver merciless blows without hesitation to whoever tries to breach our sovereignty and right to survive under the excuse of carrying out the UN Security Council resolution," a foreign ministry spokesman said.
"We will watch US movements and take corresponding action," said the unnamed spokesman, quoted by the secretive regime's official KCNA agency.
The official spokesman denounced Washington for insisting that its test on October 9 was a threat to international security - language included in the UN resolution - and accused the Council of overlooking US hostility to the North.
"This is an immoral behaviour utterly devoid of impartiality," the spokesman's said.
"The UNSC 'resolution,' needless to say, can not be construed otherwise than a declaration of a war against the DPRK (North Korea) because it was based on the scenario of the US, keen to destroy the socialist system."
Impoverished and almost completely cut off from the rest of the world, North Korea - officially known as the Democratic People's Republic of North Korea - had kept the world guessing for almost 20 years about its atomic programme.
It finally declared in February 2005 that it had nuclear weapons and carried out its first test last week, citing what it called threats from the US, which it believes wants to topple the communist regime.
The UN resolution imposes sanctions on the North and, most controversially, allows for international inspections of cargo going in and out of the country, in an effort to prohibit any illicit trafficking.
But the spokesman's statement, in line with warnings issued by the regime before the resolution was passed, cautioned that North Korea was ready to take action to defend its "sovereignty."
"The DPRK wants peace but is not afraid of war. It wants dialogue but is always ready for confrontation."
