Perfect Timing
Turns out the N. Koreans know I'm a staunch right winger heading to their neck of the world, so they want to turn up the heat on my soon-to-be hosts:

N Korea warns Japan on sanctions

North Korea says kidnap victim Megumi Yokota committed suicide
North Korea has warned that it will regard any economic sanctions imposed by Japan as a "declaration of war".

Pyongyang said it would hit back with an "effective physical response".

The Japanese government has already frozen food aid to North Korea in a row over the fate of Japanese nationals abducted during the Cold War.

Japan was outraged last week when DNA tests showed that remains provided by North Korea were not those of a missing Japanese woman as claimed.


Escalating

In return, Pyongyang accused Japan of falsifying the tests to damage ties.

The latest threat from North Korea is part of an escalating dispute that could have damaging consequences for the region, says the BBC's Charles Scanlon in Seoul.


On Wednesday, the North Korean foreign ministry issued a strong warning.

Heartbreak in Japan
"If sanctions are applied against the DPRK (North Korea)... we will regard it as a declaration of war against our country and promptly react to the action by an effective physical method," a statement carried by the official Korean Central News Agency said.

The statement said North Korea would also reconsider taking part in six-nation talks on its nuclear programme if Tokyo halted aid shipments.

Pressure is mounting in Japan for action against its impoverished neighbour.

Please don't attack Japan, thanks. I'm going to be there about for a while.