N. Korea: Sanctions are war declaration

North Korea on Tuesday blasted U.N. sanctions aimed at punishing the country for its nuclear test, saying the measures amount to a declaration of war and that the nation wouldn't cave in to such pressure now that it’s a nuclear weapons power.

Somehow I get the feeling that the United States would say the same thing if there were sanctions against it or one of its allies.

The bellicose remarks—the central government's first response to the U.N. measures imposed last weekend—came as China warned the North against stoking tensions and the American nuclear envoy arrived in South Korea for talks.

The North broke two days of silence about the U.N. resolution adopted after its October 9 nuclear test, issuing a Foreign Ministry statement on its official Korean Central News Agency.

“The resolution cannot be construed otherwise than a declaration of a war” against the North, also known as the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

Two things:

1. I can imagine Bush using that exact line—“The resolution cannot be construed otherwise than a declaration of war.” I think he said something similar to Iraq in 2003: “Saddam Hussein and his sons must leave Iraq within 48 hours. Their refusal to do so will result in military conflict, commenced at a time of our choosing.” I love the phrase he used: “military conflict.” Why not just say “war”?
2. Any time you see a country that has “People’s Republic” or “of the People” or something similar in its name, you know for sure that it’s not free at all.

I’m sick of this whole thing, so I’ll leave the rest of the article for your browsing.

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