GLOBAL TIMES, XINHUA(China), BBC (UK)
PYONGYANG – For the second straight day, North Korea has lashed out at its enemies, raising the stakes in the showdown over its nuclear program by warning Friday that new UN economic sanctions would amount to a "declaration of war."
The KCNA North Korean news agency, relayed a statement from Pyongyang's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland that stated: "Sanctions mean a war and a declaration of war against us," reports the BBC.
This latest threat to take “strong physical countermeasures” against South Korea follows Tuesday's decision by the United Nations Security Council to apply new sanctions against the North Korean regime if it carries out new tests of nuclear missiles, reports Xinhua.
This follows an official North Korean statement on Wednesday that qualified the US as its “sworn enemy,” and the eventual target of its nuclear missile program.
North Korean Missile, Youtube expand=1]
Pyongyang's increasingly aggressive stance has begun to worry its only ally in the region, China. On Friday, an editorial of the State Communist party newspaper Global Times stated that Beijing could also wind up applying economic sanctions against North Korea too if they carry out their nuclear tests.
“If North Korea engages in further nuclear tests, China will not hesitate to reduce its assistance to North Korea,” states the Chinese Newspaper.
In the face of a still quite young North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, the Global Times urged the regime to “stay calm.”
