North Korea braced for 'all-out war' as tensions mount

North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il has vowed no compromise and said he was braced for "all-out war" as tension mounted ahead of a UN vote on whether to impose sanctions on Pyongyang for its missile tests. Japan, which with the United States has led the push to punish the communist state, said it would not rule out a preemptive strike on
North Korea in case of a direct nuclear threat, leading Seoul to accuse Tokyo of aggravating the situation. As China and Russia held firm Sunday against the UN draft resolution to put further sanctions on the impoverished North, a US envoy stressed a diplomatic solution on disarmament and urged Pyongyang to return to stalled talks on disarmament. But Kim, in his first reported remarks since his regime test fired seven missiles into the sea Wednesday, pledged not to give up his weapons programs. "The General has declared that not even a tiny concession will be made to the imperialist US invaders, our arch enemy," said a broadcast on North Korean state television, as monitored by South Korea's Yonhap news agency. Kim, who never speaks himself in public, said that if the United States took "revenge," it would mean "all-out war."