North Korea said on Sunday that sanctions imposed by the United Nations...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly...
last week are an "act of war," and Pyongyang vowed to bolster its nuclear force in an outright rejection of the resolution.
"We define this 'sanctions resolution' rigged by the U.S. and its followers as a grave infringement upon the illusory sovereignty of our Republic and as an act of war violating peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula and the region," North Korea's foreign ministry said in a statement on state media.
The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Friday to impose additional sanctions on North Korea because of its missile tests, the third time the Security Council had ratcheted up sanctions this year. This latest round tightens North Korea's oil imports and calls on other countries to expel North Korean guest workers within two years. Those guest workers are a major source on foreign income for Pyongyang, and two of the biggest employers of North Koreans are Security Council members China and Russia.
The sanctions are part of a continuing effort to coerce the North Korean government into negotiating an end to its development of nuclear weapons. The previous round of sanctions, imposed in mid-September, was followed by more than two months of calm without a missile or weapons test. But on Nov. 29 Pyongyang launched a missile, identified as a Hwasong-15, that it said could reach any part of the United States.