North Korea has condemned South Korea’s financial sanctions against foreign individuals and entities for their alleged arms deals with the communist country.
 
The North’s Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland claimed on Sunday that South Korea, which joined sanctions against North Korea by the United States and the United Nations, made a grave provocation by imposing its own financial sanctions.
 
The committee threatened that those who provoke the North will face merciless punishment and dismal destruction.
 
It also called the sanctions an anti-national crime that brings inter-Korean relations to a catastrophe, warning that the South’s continued pursuit of confrontation with Pyongyang would only lead to war.
 
On Friday, South Korea imposed financial sanctions on six Taiwanese individuals and organizations and a Syrian organization for allegedly trading arms with North Korea.
 
South Korean citizens and companies must receive approval from the Bank of Korea for any financial transactions with the blacklisted entities.