Seoul: North Korea on Wednesday warned of a
"do-or-die" battle if the UN Security Council adopts statement
condemning it for a deadly attack on a South Korean warship
earlier this year.
If the council adopts a document "pulling up (North
Korea) even a bit through sordid collusion and nexus," the
North will regard this as "an intolerable and grave
infringement" on its dignity, a state committee said.
The North's army and people "will not rule out a just,
do-or-die battle to protect the sovereignty of the country,"
the Committee for the Peaceful Unification of the Fatherland
said in a statement carried by state media.
South Korea, pointing to the findings of a multinational
investigation, has accused its communist neighbour of
torpedoing the 1,200-tonne corvette with the loss of 46
sailors near the disputed Yellow Sea border on March 26.
The South has announced its own reprisals, including
cutting off most trade, with strong US support. It has also
asked the 15-member Security Council to condemn its neighbour.
Unlike many other nations, China and Russia, two of the
council's five permanent members, have not publicly accused
Pyongyang of being behind the sinking.
The North has denied any involvement in sinking the
corvette and has previously threatened a military response to
any UN censure.
The nuclear-armed state said last week it would bolster
its nuclear weaponry with an unspecified new method in
response to what it called US hostility.
Last September Pyongyang announced it had reached the
final stage of enriching uranium, a second way of making
nuclear bombs in addition to the country's plutonium-based
operation.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, July 07, 2010, 20:47