North Korea said on Thursday that Pyongyang should use nuclear weapons to 'sink' Japan and turn the United States into "ashes and darkness" as the country increased threats following new United Nations sanctions over nuclear program.
"The four islands of the archipelago should be sunken into the sea by the nuclear bomb of Juche. Japan is no longer needed to exist near us," the Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Commitee said in statement published by the North's KCNA news agency.
The Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Commitee is the North's official propaganda arm. Juche, which translates as "self-reliance." is Pyongyang's ruling ideology. It's a blenf of Marxism and hyper-nationalism and is the brainchild of leader Lim Jong Un's late grandfather, Kim II Sung. North Korea's first president who led the country until his death in 1994.
The U.N sanctions passed this week in the wake of North Korea's sixth, and possibly most powerful, nuclear test earlier this month. Kim had also threatened to launch missiles over Japan into the Pacific and towards the U.S territory of Guam. The moves have elicited a series of counter-threats from president Trump, although the possibility of war remains remote. In its statementn, the Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Commitee called for the breakup of the U.N Security Council, calling it "a tool of evil" and comprised of "money-bribed" nations.
North Korea's comments drew rebuke in Tokyo on Thursday, where Yoshihide Suga, Japan's chief cabinet secretary, called them "extremely provocative" and said that if "North Korea stays the course that it is on, it will increasingly become isolated."
Suga said the North's statement "significantly escalates tensions in the region."
In Seoul, the South Korean government said it was considering providing the North, via U.N. agencies, $8 million in aid for humanitarian assistance for infants and pregnant women, according to the South's Yonhap news agency.
"The government's basic stance is that humanitarian assistance to those who are vulnerable in North Korea should be continued regardless of political considerations," the agency reported, citing Seoul's unification ministry, which aims to promote Korean reunification.
The U.N. estimates that about 18 million North Koreans out of its population of 25 million suffer from food shortages and malnutrition.
The new U.N. sanctions ban North Korea from importing all natural gas liquids and condensates and cap imports of crude oil at the level of the last 12 months. A ban was also placed on its textile exports — its largest export after coal and other minerals. The measures prohibit all countries from authorizing new work permits for North Korean workers. All are important sources of currency for the isolated nation. The sanctions add to restrictions on iron ore exports and limits to Pyongyang’s use of foreign banks.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is holding talks in London with senior British and French officials on North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs. A report Thursday in the Nikkei, a Japanese newspaper, said that satellite imagery appeared to indicate that North Korea was preparing for another long-range missile test. Pyongyang was expected to test an intercontinental ballistic rocket on Sunday as North Koreans celebrated the country’s 69th founding anniversary. The test did not materialize.