http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1512&ncid=2181&e=2&u=/afp/20041215/wl_afp/nkoreajapansanctions_041215120755North Korea says Japanese sanctions would be 'declaration of war'
Wed Dec 15, 7:07 AM ET
SEOUL, (AFP) - North Korea (news - web sites) warned that it would regard any sanctions imposed on it by Japan as a declaration of war and would hit back with an "effective physical" response.
It also said it would reconsider its participation in six-nation talks aimed at ending the nuclear stand-off if a "provocative campaign" under way in Japan against the country continued, a foreign ministry spokesman said.
The outburst came after Japan said it would halt aid shipments to the impoverished Stalinist state in a dispute over the fate of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korean agents during the Cold War.
It also came amid efforts to jump-start stalled talks on the nuclear stand-off three months after Pyongyang failed to show for a scheduled fourth round.
"If sanctions are applied against the DPRK (North Korea)..., we will regard it as a declaration of war against our country and promptly react to the action by an effective physical method," the unidentified spokesman said in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Japan swiftly shrugged off the North Korean warning, with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi suggesting the threat of an "effective physical" response might be part of a political strategy by Pyongyang.