The North’s state news agency KCNA said Trump was taking a big step towards nuclear war in seeking a naval blockade and North Korea would take “merciless self-defence” measures if the United States tried to impose one, Reuters reported.
North Korea would regard a naval blockade as “an act of war” and a “wanton violation” of its sovereignty and dignity, the agency cited a foreign ministry spokesman as saying, adding that North Korea was a responsible nuclear power.
North Korea justifies its weapons programmes as necessary defence against U.S. plans to invade. The United States, which has 28,500 troops in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean war, denies any such intention.