North Korea warns of 'self-defense' against UN punishment

The Security Council is considering a new resolution with possible sanctions against Pyongyang over the reclusive communist state's nuclear test earlier this week. "If the UN Security Council continues provocations, we will inevitably respond with further self-defense measures," the foreign ministry said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency. The statement also said that country would not recognize any Security Council resolutions unless the council first apologizes for criticizing North Korea's nuclear test. Russia, which has in recent years joined China in blocking harsh sanctions against North Korea, has pledged to back a new UN resolution on the nuclear test. However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has warned against punishing the North "for the sake of punishment," and insisted that the only way out of the problem is through dialogue. Pyongyang is already under a number of UN sanctions over its first nuclear test, carried out in 2006. Possible new sanctions may include a ban on importing and exporting all arms and not just heavy weapons, additional asset freezes and travel bans for North Korean officials, and placing more firms on a UN blacklist, according to UN sources, Kazinform cites RIA Novosti. See www.chinaview.cn for full version.