North Korea has warned of retaliation after the US scrapped food aid over its rocket launch, raising fears of a new nuclear test.
In a defiant statement, the nuclear-armed North broke off a bilateral agreement to halt testing of nuclear weapons and long-range missiles after Washington suspended much-needed food aid.
"We have thus become able to take necessary retaliatory measures, free from the agreement. The US will be held wholly accountable for all the ensuing consequences," its foreign ministry said.
South Korean analysts said they expect the North to follow up by staging a third nuclear weapons test, or launching another long-range missile.
The North also rejected condemnation by the United Nations Security Council, including its ally China, of the failed launch last Friday.
Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper said Wednesday that China has suspended the refugee repatriation deal because it was not consulted about the launch, seen by the US and its allies as a covert test of ballistic missile technology.
The paper quoted two Chinese officials as saying the longstanding policy of swiftly returning North Koreans as economic migrants -- despite the punishment they...
↧