“If there is any provocative act such as the issuance of a so-called statement concerning ‘the North’s nuclear issue’ at the Seoul conference, it would constitute an extreme insult,’’ said the North’s state-run Korean Central News Agency. “Any provocative act would be considered a declaration of war against us and its consequences would serve as great obstacles to talks on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.’’

SEOUL - As global leaders prepared to travel to Seoul for a nuclear security summit meeting, North Korea warned Wednesday that any criticism of its nuclear weapons program would be considered a “declaration of war.’’


North Korea frequently refers to the likelihood of war breaking out, and it had previously called the UN’s condemnations of its nuclear weapons and long-range missile programs a “declaration of war.’’ But the North has also sometimes followed up on such rhetoric by staging provocations such as a nuclear test.

The latest warning came as President Obama and his allies in the region planned to use the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul early next week to discuss how to discourage the North’s scheduled satellite launching and its nuclear program and what can be done about the launching.

“North Korea will be the odd man out,’’ Daniel Russel, senior director for Asia at the White House’s National Security Council, told reporters Tuesday. “They may choose to deepen their isolation and to further strengthen the international sanctions that are constraining them.’’

So far, North Korea appears to be determined to go ahead with the launch. It insisted its satellite program was peaceful in purpose and had nothing to do with its nuclear weapons. But Washington believes previous launchings are part of North Korea’s efforts to build intercontinental ballistic missiles and mount them with nuclear warheads.

North Korea is not part of the official agenda at the summit, which focuses on a broader issue of preventing nuclear and radioactive materials falling into the hands of terrorists. But the conference brings together five major regional powers involved in the long-running multilateral talks aimed at ending North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.


Russel urged China to “bring all the instruments of power to bear to influence the decision-making in North Korea.’’ Beijing, the closest thing North Korea has to an ally, values stability in the North and is often reluctant to exercise the kind of influence Russel refers to.

When Wu Dawei, the chief Chinese envoy on North Korea’s nuclear issue, met the North’s vice foreign minister, Ri Yong Ho, in Beijing Monday, he expressed concerns and worries about the planned satellite launching, said Luo Zhaohui, a senior Chinese Foreign Ministry official, Tuesday. But China also called for all parties to remain calm and exercise restraint and urged Washington and Pyongyang to continue dialogue.

In Japan, Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka said Wednesday that Japan was considering how to respond to any contingencies caused by the launch. The country was reportedly considering deploying sea-based interceptor missiles near the North Korean rocket’s planned trajectory, should it fail and endanger Japanese lives or property.

Hope had risen North Korea was ready to return to six-nation nuclear disarmament talks when it agreed with Washington in February to suspend uranium enrichment and nuclear and long-range missile tests in exchange for 240,000 tons of US food aid.


That hope dissipated after North Korea announced last Friday its new Unha-3 rocket would blast off between April 12 and 16 to launch a satellite into orbit.