BEIJING (Kyodo) North Korea on Wednesday called South Korea's decision on Tuesday to join the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative "a declaration of war" against it and warned it will respond militarily to any attempt to inspect its ships.

In a statement issued through the official Korean Central News Agency, the Panmunjeom Mission of the Korean People's Army also said it will no longer be bound by the armistice that ended the Korean War in 1953.

North Korea's armed forces will regard South Korea's " 'full participation' in the PSI as a declaration of war against the DPRK," the statement said.