N Korea wary of S Korea-US joint program

North Korea said on Saturday that South Korea's participation in a US-led effort to stop the trafficking of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) would be a "declaration of war" against the country.

A spokesman for the General Staff of the Korean People's Army made the remark through the official Korean Central News Agency at a time when South Korea is expected to announce its plan to participate in the Proliferation Security Initiative as a full member.

"The Korean People's Army will consider sanctions to be applied against the DPRK under various names over its satellite launch or any pressure to be put upon it'' through PSI participation as "a declaration of undisguised confrontation," the report said.

DPRK is the acronym for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
South Korea, which had initially planned to announce its participation in the scheme on Sunday, postponed the plan to sometime after next Tuesday after North Korea proposed inter-Korean talks next week, South Korea said on Saturday.