North Korea openly threatening the United States with nuclear weapons, China called Thursday for a new round of diplomacy and appears to be growing increasingly frustrated with its longtime ally.Beijing's calls for intervention come amid a torrent of belligerent language from Pyongyang, angered by a United Nations
...where theory meets practice and practice loses...
resolution earlier in the week expanding sanctions over its missile and nuclear program.
The latest escalation came Thursday when Pyongyang lashed out at the United States, which it called the "archenemy of the Korean people.''
"We are not disguising the fact that the various satellites and long-range rockets that we will fire and the high-level nuclear test we will carry out are targeted at the United States," North Korea's National Defense Commission said in a statement released by the official news service.
"Settling accounts with the U.S. needs to be done with force, not with words," it said.
North Korea's confrontational stand dampened hopes that the country might be following a more moderate course under its new 30-year-old leader, Kim
PudgeJong-un
...the hereditary potentate of North Korea...
, who took over 13 months ago following the death of his father Kim Jong Il.