North Korea to US: Sanctions Against Kim Jong Un Basically an Act of War

Foreign Ministry issues response Thursday
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jul 7, 2016 3:01 PM CDT
North Korea to US: Sanctions Against Kim Jong Un Basically an Act of War
In this May 10, 2016, photo, North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un watches a parade from a balcony at the Kim Il Sung Square in Pyongyang.   (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

North Korea says US sanctions on leader Kim Jong Un and other top officials for human rights abuses are tantamount to declaring war, the AP reports. The country's Foreign Ministry issued a statement Thursday carried by the official Korean Central News Agency saying the announcement of sanctions on Kim and 10 other officials was "peppered with lies and fabrications." North Korea has already been sanctioned heavily because of its nuclear weapons program. However, Wednesday's sanctions mark the first time Kim has been personally targeted, and the first time that any North Korean official has been blacklisted by the US Treasury in connection with reports of rights abuses. The State Department said North Korean political prison camps hold between 80,000 to 120,000 prisoners, including children and other family members. (More North Korea stories.)

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