North Korea has warned that any attempt by the United Nations to impose sanctions on the Stalinist state would spark a war.
The state-run Korean Central New Agency said Monday that Pyongyang "would promptly and resolutely react to sanctions with self-defensive war deterrent force."
Last month U.S. officials suggested Washington might bring North Korea to the U.N. Security Council for possible sanctions if it continues to boycott talks on the country's nuclear weapons program.
Pyongyang did not attend a fourth round of six-party talks scheduled to open in September in Beijing, citing what it called Washington's "hostile policy" towards North Korea and reports of secret nuclear experiments in South Korea.