North Korea stoked regional tensions Wednesday, threatening more nuclear tests and saying additional sanctions imposed on it would be considered an act of war, as nervous neighbors raced to bolster defenses and punish Pyongyang.South Korea said it was making sure its troops were prepared for atomic warfare, and Japan imposed new economic sanctions to hit the economic lifeline of the communist nation's 1 million-member military, the world's fifth-largest.
North Korea, in its first formal statement since Monday's claimed atomic bomb test, hailed the blast as a success and said attempts by the outside world to penalize North Korea with sanctions would be considered an act of war.
Further pressure will be countered with physical retaliation, the North's Foreign Ministry warned in a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency.
"If the U.S. keeps pestering us and increases pressure, we will regard it as a declaration of war and will take a series of physical corresponding measures," the statement, said without specifying what those measures could be.
President Bush called for stiff sanctions on North Korea and asserted that the United States has "no intentions of attacking" the reclusive regime. He said he remains committed to diplomacy, but also "reserves all options to defend our friends in the region."
For the record, here is a timeline of North Korea’s nuclear weapons development. And for those keeping score at home:
- Bush I: 1-2 bombs worth of plutonium
- Clinton: Zero plutonium
- Bush II: 10-11 bombs worth of plutonium and counting, first nuclear test
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