Print
The North Korean government is seeking a “thousands-fold” revenge against the United States following new United Nations sanctions.
Additionally, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho told reporters that his government would reject any negotiations that involved the rogue country disarming its nuclear weapons or missiles.
“We will not put our self-defensive nuclear deterrent on the negotiating table … and will never take a single step back from strengthening our nuclear might,” Ri told reporters at an international security conference in Manilla on Monday.
Are Your Prepared For A Downed Grid? Get Backup Electricity Today!
Instead, North Korea “is ready to teach the U.S. a severe lesson with its nuclear strategic force,” according to a statement released by its news agency. The sanctions target such key exports as coal, iron, lead and seafood, The Guardian reported, and could cut its export revenue by a third.
The sanctions also prevent additional North Koreans from legally working outside the country. The UN has created a blacklist of North Korean individuals and companies that will be barred from traveling and doing business.
The hope is that sanctions, passed unanimously by the UN Security Council, will bring North Korea back to the bargaining table.
China Warns North Korea
“The purpose is to pull the peninsula nuclear issue back to the negotiating table, and to seek a final solution to realize the peninsula denuclearization and long-term stability through negotiations,” Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi said of the sanctions.
China supports the sanctions, which is bad news for North Korea, The Guardian reported.
“Do not violate the UN decision or provoke the international community’s goodwill by conducting missile launches or nuclear tests,” Wang warned on Monday.
The Chinese navy is conducting war games involving marines and dozens of ships and submarines in the East China Sea near North Korea, Newsweek reported. The wargames involved drills of air attacks and amphibious attacks.
“[The Chinese] could be sending a message to the North Koreans that they will be effective in any conflict if war is to break out,” Malcolm Davis of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute told The South China Morning Post.
What do you think the U.S. should do? Share your thoughts in the section below:
