N. Korea sees U.S. pressure as 'declaration of war'
SEOUL, South Korea (CNN) -- North Korea will consider any increased pressure from the United States as "a declaration of a war," a North Korean Foreign Ministry spokesman said Wednesday, according to South Korea's official news agency.
The United States is leading the charge for limited U.N. sanctions against the reclusive
communist country after it said it carried out a nuclear test Monday. The U.N. Security Council is considering the draft resolution.
North Korea's second in command, Kim Yong Nam, told Japan's Kyodo News Agency that sanctions would prevent Pyongyang from rejoining multilateral negotiations on its nuclear weapons program, which stalled last year.
"We cannot attend the six-party talks while financial sanctions and various sanctions are imposed on us," said Kim, according to a translation from The Associated Press.
The Bush administration has insisted any negotiations between the United States and North Korea occur within the framework of six-party talks that also involve China, Russia, South Korea and Japan.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said President Bush has told the North Koreans that "there is no intention to invade or attack them. So they have that guarantee. ... I don't know what more they want." (Watch Rice lay out U.S. position on North Korean threats -- 1:28)
Kim earlier had threatened more nuclear tests if the United States continued its "hostile attitude" against Pyongyang, a news report said Wednesday.
South Korea's defense minister, Yoon Kwang-ung, later announced that Seoul will enlarge its conventional arsenal to deal with its potentially nuclear-armed neighbor.
South Korea's military joint chiefs of staff have told the defense minister that troops should check their readiness for nuclear war, according to that country's Yonhap news service, the AP reported.
原文地址:http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/asiapcf/10/11/korea.nuclear.test/index.html
