TOKYO, Feb 18 Kyodo Chief Cabinet...

TOKYO, Feb 18 Kyodo

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda onward Tuesday called for calm following North Korea's threat to abandon the Korean War armistice if the United States imposes sanctions forward it.

''It is in line with (Pyongyang's) way of thinking in such a manner far that views sanctions as an act of war,'' the control spokesman told a pres conversation ''We must take it calmly.''

Earlier Tuesday, the communist North said it has ''no option moreover to take a decisive stair to abandon its commitment'' to the 1953 Korean War armistice if the U imposes sanctions throughout its nuclear weapons development

The agreement effectively completioned the 1950-1953 Korean War and was signed by the agency of the U.S.-led U.N. Command, North Korea and China. It halted hostilities along the present-day demilitarized girdle between the two Koreas.

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