Russia and China add to pressure on North Korea

RUSSIA and China expressed serious concern about tension on the Korean peninsula and, in the face of North Korea’s rhetoric, joined international pressure for it to return to nuclear talks.

The US vowed it would never accept North Korea as an atomic weapons state and, at a board meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, urged the country to negotiate with the world’s great powers instead of making threats.

Only hours earlier, North Korea warned the US and its allies of a “thousand-fold” military retaliation if provoked.