North Korea rejects new sanctions, to continue weapons programme

The US had expanded targeted sanctions against North Korea

Pyongyang: North Korea “fully rejects” the latest round of sanctions against its citizens and entities by the United Nations and will continue its weapons development, its official KCNA news agency said on Sunday.

The UN Security Council last Friday expanded targeted sanctions against North Korea after its repeated missile tests, adopting the first such resolution agreed by the United States and Pyongyang’s only major ally China since President Donald Trump took office.

The sanctions resolution “is a crafty hostile act with the purpose of putting a curb on the North Korea’s buildup of nuclear forces, disarming it and causing economic suffocation to it,” the Foreign Ministry spokeperson said in a statement.

“Whatever sanctions and pressure may follow, we will not flinch from the road to build up nuclear forces which was chosen to defend the sovereignty of the country and the rights to national existence and will move forward towards the final victory,” the spokesperson said.

North Korea has rejected all UN Security Council resolutions dating back to 2006 when it conducted its first nuclear test, saying such moves directly infringe its sovereign right to self-defence.

The United States has struggled to slow North Korea’s nuclear and missile programmes, which have become a security priority given Pyongyang’s vow to develop a nuclear-tipped missile capable of hitting the US mainland.

The Trump administration has been pressing China aggressively to rein in its reclusive neighbor, warning that all options are on the table if Pyongyang persists with its nuclear and missile development.

North Korea blamed the United States and China for “railroading and enforcing” the sanctions resolution at the UN Security Council “after having drafted it in the backroom at their own pleasure.”

“It is a fatal miscalculation if the countries ... would even think that they can delay or hold in check the eye-opening development of the (North’s) nuclear forces even for a moment,” the spokesperson said.current sanctions.