North Korea said on Thursday that it was planning a tough response to what it deemed a “declaration of war” by the US, after Washington blacklisted the nuclear-armed country’s leader Kim Jong Un for the first time over human rights abuses.
Pyongyang described the sanctioning of Kim as a “hideous crime,” according to North Korea’s official KCNA news agency.
“What the US did this time, not content with malignantly slandering the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, is the worst crime that can never be pardoned,” it cited the foreign ministry as saying.
US urges North Korea to refrain from actions that raise tensions.
The US responded to North Korea’s warning, saying Pyongyang should refrain from statements and actions that raise tensions in the region.
We once again call on North Korea to refrain from actions and rhetoric that only further raise tensions in the region, and I can’t see how this rhetoric does anything but that.John Kirby, State Department spokesman
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