N. Korea vows to take countermeasures against U.S.pressure

North Korea threatened on Wednesday to respond with "physical countermeasures" if the United States steps up pressure on its communist country.

"If the U.S. increases pressure upon the DPRK, persistently doing harm to it, it will continue to take physical countermeasures, considering it as a declaration of a war," an unnamed spokesman for the North's Foreign Ministry said. The DPRK, short for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is the North's official name.

In a statement carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the spokesman said North Korea had no choice but to conduct a nuclear test on Monday because of the "daily increasing danger of war from the U.S."

He accused the U.S. of moving to manipulate the U.N. Security Council to issue a resolution pressurizing North Korea, which he said is an indication of the disturbing moves "to impose collective sanctions upon it." But the communist country left the door open for negotiations, saying it remains committed to a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula through dialogue.

"Although the DPRK conducted the nuclear test due to the U.S., it still remains unchanged in its will to denuclearize the peninsula through dialogue and negotiations," the statement said, noting that it was the North's founding leader Kim Il-sung's last instruction and an ultimate goal of the country.

It also stressed that the nuclear test was in line with the Sept. 19 joint statement under which it committed to dismantling its nuclear weapons and abandoning its existing nuclear program. Since November, the six-party talks, consisting of the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia, have been deadlocked since North Korea boycotted the talks, demanding the U.S. lift financial sanctions imposed on it.

"The DPRK clarified more than once that it would feel no need to possess even a single nuke when it is no longer exposed to the U.S. threat after it has dropped its hostile policy toward the DPRK and confidence has been built between the two countries," the KCNA reported. "We are ready for both dialogue and confrontation."

Seoul, Oct. 11 (Yonhap News)