North Korea says US is its 'enemy', threatens nuclear test

Washington, Jan 24: At the very beginning of his second term in office, US President Barack Obama faces a big headache because the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has issued an open threat against his country.

Hours after the United Nations Security Council endorsed stricter sanctions as North Korea had launched a rocket in Dec 2012, Pyongyang indicated that there could be some more rocket launches in the near future.

Today, the National Defence Commission of North Korea rejected "all the illegal and outlawed resolutions adopted by the Security Council" and asserted that "a variety of satellites and long-range rockets" will be launched "one after another".

It also warned that "a nuclear test of higher level" will be carried out "in the upcoming all-out action, a new phase of the anti-U.S. struggle that has lasted century after century ..."

Describing the United States as "sworn enemy of the Korean people", the commission said: "Settling accounts with the U.S. needs to be done with force, not with words, as it regards jungle law as the rule of its survival."

Reacting to the statement, US envoy Glyn Davies stressed that "This is not a moment to increase tensions on the Korean peninsula." He said that Pyongyang must "heed the voice of the international community."

If "concrete steps" are taken showing North Korea is still interested in "returning to diplomacy, they may find in their negotiating partners willing partners in that process," Davies added.

According to observers, Pyongyang could well be preparing for an underground detonation of a uranium bomb. When North Korea tested plutonium bombs in 2006 and also in 2009, the United Nations condemned the belligerence of the Kim Jong Il-led regime on both occasions.

Kim Jong Il's son and heir Kim Jong-un is at the helm of affairs at present, but the international community is not sure if he will deviate from the course charted out by his father.

OneIndia News