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North Korea slams latest UN sanctions as 'act of war'

December 24, 2017

North Korea's foreign ministry has announced that the latest round of UN sanctions against the country amount to an "act of war." The statement described the move as a complete economic blockade against the country.

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North Korean flag
Image: picture-alliance/picturedesk.com/H. Ringhofe

North Korea slammed the latest set of UN sanctions imposed on the hermit kingdom as an "act of war." The measures were taken earlier in the week in reaction to the country's repeated intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests.

"We fully reject the latest UN sanctions ... as a violent breach of our republic's sovereignty and an act of war that destroys the peace and stability of the Korean peninsula and a wider region," Pyongyang's foreign ministry said in a statement on the state-run KCNA news agency.

Missile test in Pyongyang
North Korea's missile and nuclear tests have been condemned by the international communityImage: Getty Images/AFP/STR

"The United States, completely terrified at our accomplishment of the great historic cause of completing the state nuclear force, is getting more and more frenzied in the moves to impose the harshest-ever sanctions and pressure on our country," the ministry statement added.

"We will further consolidate our self-defensive nuclear deterrence aimed at fundamentally eradicating the US nuclear threats, blackmail and hostile moves by establishing the practical balance of force with the US."

The statement concluded by saying that those who had voted for the sanctions would face Pyongyang's wrath.

Infografik Timeline Nordkoreas Raketentests November 2017 ENG

Crippling sanctions

The latest UN resolution limits 90 percent of petroleum exports to North Korea and demands that North Koreans working for Kim Jong Un's regime abroad return home. The United Nations Security Council unanimously voted in favor of the resolution; all 15 members of the council, including China and Russia, backed the sanctions.

Furthermore, a total of 16 North Korean officials, mostly in the banking sector, were added to the sanctions black list along with the ministry that manages the logistics of its armed forces.

But the resolution fell short of taking even tougher measures sought by the US such as the blacklisting of ships from other nations carrying banned cargo to North Korea or the freezing of international assets held by the Pyongyang government.

The last sanctions against North Korea had been adopted in September, leading North Korea to call for an end to the "brutal" measures that it termed "genocide."

UN slaps tough new sanctions on North Korea

ss/bk (AFP, Reuters)