Seoul, Jan 07: North Korea warned the world on Tuesday against levelling sanctions against it, saying "sanctions mean a war, and the war knows no mercy." The announcement, carried by the official state-run North Korean News Agency, comes a day after the UN nuclear watchdog delayed a step toward sanctioning the isolated country over its nuclear programmes.
The International Atomic Energy Agency said Monday it would give North Korea a second chance to drop its nuclear development and comply with international agreements before referring to the matter to the UN Security Council.
On Tuesday, North Korea demanded the United States apologise for what it described as "piracy" in the seizure of a North Korean ship carrying missiles to Yemen.
It described the seizures as a part of a US strategy of "total economic sanctions aimed at isolating and stifling" North Korea. "Sanctions mean a war, and the war knows no mercy," KCNA said.
Bureau Report