NKorea warns on US sanctionsBy The Manila TimesSEOUL: Nuclear-armed North Korea condemned the United States over its latest sanctions measures, warning Washington’s approach could “block the path to denuclearisation on the Korean peninsula forever.”After a rapid diplomatic rapprochement this year that culminated in the Singapore summit in June between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump, progress has stalled in talks on Pyongyang’s nuclear arsenal. In Singapore the two men signed a vaguely-worded statement on denuclearisation, but have since disagreed on what it means. Death anniversaryPyongyang has long said it needs the weapons to deter a possible US invasion, and has spent decades developing them, at a heavy cost in both resources and the imposition of multiple sets of UN, US, EU and other sanctions. It was the leader’s first public activity in two weeks after visiting a shoe factory in Wonsan earlier this month. Such restrictions may have little effect on individuals in one of the world’s most closed countries but have symbolic impact as North Korea seeks greater acceptance by the United States.

Source: Manila Times December 17, 2018 04:07 UTC