Sanctions mean war, says N Korea

North Korea said on Tuesday that economic sanctions over its atomic programme would mean war as the UN nuclear agency said Pyongyang had &#1...

North Korea said on Tuesday that economic sanctions over its atomic programme would mean war as the UN nuclear agency said Pyongyang had ‘‘only a matter of weeks’’ to readmit inspectors.

US President George Bush said on Monday he remained open to dialogue, but White House officials said the North must first end efforts to develop atomic weapons.

Pyongyang’s KCNA news agency denounced the brief seizure last month of a shipload of N Korean scud missiles bound for Yemen, calling it ‘‘part of a US-tailored containment strategy against DPRK (N Korea). ‘‘The strategy means economic sanctions aimed at isolating and stifling DPRK,’’ the agency said today.

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‘‘Sanctions mean a war and the war knows no mercy. The US should opt for a dialogue with DPRK, not for war, clearly aware that it will have to pay a very high price for such reckless acts,’’ KCNA added.

But adding to the pressure on N Korea, the International Atomic Energy Agency said time was running out for Pyongyang. ‘‘We have…made it clear to N Korea that it is not an open-ended invitation. It’s only a matter of weeks,’’ Mohamed el Baradei, head of IAEA said. ‘‘If they do not comply, we will have to go to the Security Council and Security Council will take it from there,’’ he said.

‘‘We are only talking about weeks because I am supposed to report to our member states as a matter of urgency. I interpret urgency to mean weeks at the most,’’ he said.

A South Korean Unification Ministry official said N Korea’s words were being watched. ‘‘People do not think there is going to be a war,’’ he said. ‘‘But this time, N Korea’s threat can be taken seriously as the North has broken its promises to US and the international community.’’

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A South Korean presidential envoy headed to Washington on Tuesday to defuse the crisis that flared up last month, when Pyongyang expelled UN inspectors and vowed to restart a reactor idle since a 1994 pact which froze its nuclear programme in exchange for oil from the West.

National security adviser Yim Sung-Joon, was expected to suggest that the US give N Korea security assurances and promises to resume energy supplies in return for the North agreeing again to abandon its nuclear programme.

North Korea has yet to respond to the IAEA ultimatum. The South today stated that ‘‘North Korea should respect the IAEA’s resolution and take the responsibility and do its duty as a member of the Non-Proliferation Treaty by implementing it right away.’’ (Reuters)