Express. Now North Korea threatens Japan with war

The North's official Korean Central News Agency carried a statement from the Foreign Ministry Sunday saying that it would be a fatal mistake for Japan if it thinks it will be safe when a war breaks out on the Korean Peninsula.

The statement warned that the Japanese would face a horrible strike if they collude with the United States.

The article appeared days after U.S. National Security Advisor Tom Donilon said Washington is willing to hold "authentic negotiations" with the North if it changes its behavior.

North Korea is furious about new U.N. sanctions imposed after it conducted its third nuclear test last month.

The new round of sanctions and an ongoing U.S. - South Korea military exercise sparked an angry response from Pyongyang, which said it is abandoning the armistice that ended the Korean War and is ending non-aggression pacts with South Korea.

However, despite the impassioned war threats from Pyongyang, an increasing number of North Korean soldiers have gone AWOL from their front-line combat units since tensions have escalated, sources in Seoul have revealed.

In a possible sign of rising discontent in the rank and file suffering from grueling winter training and food shortages, the number of North Korean soldiers has decreased dramatically according to reports.