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North Korea: US sanctions 'declaration of war'

Thursday, 07 July 2016 5:01 PM [ Last Update: Thursday, 07 July 2016 6:04 PM ]

In this May 10, 2016, photo, North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un watches a parade from a balcony at the Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang. (AP photo)

North Korea says the recent US sanctions against its leadership 'crossed a red line' and constitute a 'declaration of war.'

A Foreign Ministry statement, carried by Pyongyang’s official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), said on Thursday that the new US sanctions targeting the country’s leader Kim Jong-un amount to “an open declaration of a war."

The ministry added that the move by Washington constituted "the worst hostile act" against Pyongyang, vowing that North Korea would take the “toughest countermeasures” against the United States.

This came a day after the US imposed unilateral sanctions on North Korean leader for the first time over claims that he is responsible for a long list of rights violations.

According to a statement by the US Treasury Department, 10 other individuals and five government ministries and departments were also sanctioned.

North Korea recently came under the most crippling sanctions by the United Nations and the West over its nuclear and ballistic missile tests.

In early June, North Korea said it has begun a 200-day battle to boost the country’s sanctions-hit economy as part of a five-year economic plan.

According to the plan, Pyongyang will simultaneously expand its nuclear weapons capability “in quality and quantity” and push forward economic development.

The country describes its nuclear capabilities as a deterrent against hostile US policies.

North Korea accuses the US of plotting with its regional allies to topple the government in Pyongyang. Thousands of US soldiers are stationed in South Korea and Japan.

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