Pyongyang deems nuke talk ‘declaration of war’

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Pyongyang deems nuke talk ‘declaration of war’

North Korea yesterday warned against raising the issue of its nuclear weapons program during an upcoming global summit in Seoul, saying it will regard any related statement as a declaration of war.

“In the event of a provocation such as a statement regarding the North Korean nuclear issue at the Seoul conference, it will be heinous blasphemy against the wishes of the great men of Mount Paektu who left as their will the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, and go down in history as another enormous crime,” the North’s Korean Central News Agency said. “Any provocation against us will be considered a declaration of war.”

Mount Paektu is a key feature of the personality cult surrounding the North’s ruling family, and revered as the apparent sacred birthplace of late leader Kim Jong-il. The communist country also claimed the North Korean nuclear issue “in fact does not exist” and has no reason to be discussed at the March 26-27 Nuclear Security Summit that is expected to draw top leaders from nearly 50 nations, including U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao.

The warning comes two days after South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said the summit should serve to drum up international support.

Yonhap
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