North Korea War Claims Nuclear Missiles


North Korea War Claims Nuclear Missiles

The new measures, adopted unanimously by the 15-member council, require nations to crack down on North Korean financial transactions and check cargo suspected of containing nuclear and missile-related contraband, among other actions that before were only voluntary.

The regime also announced early Friday that it plans to cut off phone hotlines between North and South Korea. It was part of a defiant response to tough new sanctions imposed by the United Nations Security Council.

North Korea had claimed success in making a lighter and smaller nuclear device after testing it last month, and in December successfully launched its Unha-3 long-range rocket with enough range to reach Alaska and, perhaps, the West Coast of the United States. But weapons experts in the region have said they believe it will still be several years before the North Koreans have a nuclear warhead small enough to be carried by one of their long-range missiles.

"North Korean threats of provocations will only further isolate North Korea and undermine international efforts to ensure peace and stability in Northeast Asia," Pentagon spokeswoman Lt. Col. Cathy Wilkinson said.

The targets of the latest round of sanctions included in the latest round of sanctions include top officials at a company that is the country's primary arms dealer and main exporter of ballistic missile-related equipment, and a national organization responsible for research and development of missiles and probably nuclear weapons.

North Korea defied international warnings and conducted a third nuclear test in February, setting off a device that yielded a stronger blast than its previous test in 2009. It claimed it had made progress in miniaturizing an atomic weapon.

Experts are skeptical of such a claim, and the threat this week to attack the United States, seeing them more as an attempt to boost its security leverage in the face of deepening diplomatic isolation and growing military pressure from the United States and South Korea, which are conducting joint military drills to deter any armed aggression from Pyongyang.

South Korea and U.S. forces are conducting large-scale military drills until the end of April. The North is also gearing up for a massive state-wide military exercise.