Pyongyang condemns U.N. sanctions as ‘act of war’

North Korea called the latest round of punishing U.N. sanctions an “act of war” on Sunday and reminded the United States that the North’s rapid development of missiles and atomic bombs meant it posed a “substantial nuclear threat to the U.S. mainland.”

In a statement released by the state-controlled Korean Central News Agency, North Korea said the sanctions approved unanimously Friday by the U.N. Security Council were tantamount to a blockade, and it threatened to retaliate against the United States and the council’s 14 other member nations.

“We will further consolidate our self-defensive nuclear deterrence aimed at fundamentally eradicating the U.S. nuclear threats, blackmail and hostile moves by establishing the practical balance of force with the U.S.,” the Foreign Ministry statement read.

The sanctions, proposed by the United States and adopted by a vote of 15-0, were the third imposed this year in a continuing effort to get the North to halt its weapons program and return to the negotiating table.

Under the new sanctions, fuel supplies will be drastically cut, and roughly 100,000 North Koreans working in other countries will be expelled within two years. The sanctions are intended to hurt North Korea in two vital ways: Cutting refined petroleum imports by 89 percent would exacerbate the country’s fuel crisis, and expelling foreign guest workers would substantially reduce remittances, an important source of hard currency.

“We define this ‘sanctions resolution’ rigged up by the U.S. and its followers as a grave infringement upon the sovereignty of our republic, as an act of war violating peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula and the region, and categorically reject the ‘resolution,’ ” the North said in its statement.

The North vowed that each country that voted in favor of the resolution would be subject to retaliation. Presumably, that threat extends to Russia and China, the isolated nation’s last remaining allies, which approved the resolution after seeking modifications from the Trump administration.

North Korea has conducted six nuclear tests and has demonstrated major progress with its missiles even though the United Nations has prohibited them.