hankyoreh

North Korea warned Wednesday it will take "corresponding" action if South Korea joins international sanctions against the North led by the United States.

The warning came in a statement of North Korea's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland spokesman released by the (North) Korean Central News Agency Wednesday.

It is the first time that the North issued a warning against the South's moves on international sanctions against it since its Oct. 9 nuclear test. "If the South Korean authorities end up joining U.S.-led moves to sanction and stifle, we will regard it as a declaration of confrontation against its own people ... and take corresponding measures," the statement said.

"The South should hold all responsibility and pay dearly for it if international sanctions joined by the South bring forth destructive results in inter-Korean relations," it claimed. The statement also stressed that the North will keep an eye on the South's moves related to international sanctions against it.

Any move by South Korean authorities to support international sanctions against North Korea is an anti-national act that overturns the joint statement signed at the June 2000 summit and will inevitably hamper inter-Korean relations, the statement said.

Inter-Korean economic cooperation promotes the common interests of the two countries and helps facilitate national reconciliation, it added.

Seoul, Oct. 25 (Yonhap News)