Trade Sanctions Wouldn't Be an Act of War, Law Experts Say

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A U.N.-SANCTIONED trade embargo against North Korea would not be an act of war, say international law experts.

Chapter VII of the U.N. Charter gives the Security Council power to take economic or military action when there is "any threat to the peace . . ."

And yet, acts of war can depend on the eye of the beholder.

"Any country can consider any act to be an act of war," says Howard Levie, professor emeritus at St. Louis Univerity Law School. "What is an act of war is a subjective decision by the country concerned."

The International Atomic Energy Agency concluded Thursday that North Korea had made it impossible to determine if nuclear fuel has been …