North Korea calls latest UN sanctions 'an act of war'

Seoul, Dec 24 (AP) North Korea today called the latest UNsanctions to target the country "an act of war" that violatesits sovereignty, and said it ...

Seoul, Dec 24 (AP) North Korea today called the latest UNsanctions to target the country "an act of war" that violatesits sovereignty, and said it is a "pipe dream" for the UnitedStates to think it will give up its nuclear weapons.

The UN Security Council unanimously approved tough newsanctions against North Korea on Friday in response to itslatest launch of a ballistic missile that Pyongyang says canreach anywhere on the US mainland.

The resolution was drafted by the United States andnegotiated with the North's closest ally, China.

"We define this 'sanctions resolution' rigged up by theUS and its followers as a grave infringement upon thesovereignty of our Republic, as an act of war violating peaceand stability in the Korean peninsula and the region andcategorically reject the 'resolution,'" North Korea's foreignministry said in a statement.

The ministry said the sanctions are tantamount to a"complete economic blockade" of North Korea.

"If the US wishes to live safely, it must abandon itshostile policy towards the DPRK and learn to co-exist with thecountry that has nuclear weapons and should wake up from itspipe dream of our country giving up nuclear weapons which wehave developed and completed through all kinds of hardships,"said the statement, carried by the North's official KoreanCentral News Agency.

DPRK is short for North Korea's official name, theDemocratic People's Republic of Korea.

The resolution adopted by the Security Council includessharply lower limits on North Korea's refined oil imports, thereturn home of all North Koreans working overseas within 24months, and a crackdown on ships smuggling banned itemsincluding coal and oil to and from the country.

But the resolution doesn't include even harsher measuressought by the Trump administration that would ban all oilimports and freeze international assets of the government andits leader, Kim Jong Un.

The resolution drew criticism from Russia for the shorttime the Security Council nations had to consider the draft,and last-minute changes to the text.

Two of those changes were extending the deadline forNorth Korean workers to return home from 12 months to 24months — which Russia said was the minimum needed — andreducing the number of North Koreans being put on the U.N.

sanctions blacklist from 19 to 15. (AP)PMS.

This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.

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