A defiant North Korea on Sunday said it “fully rejects” newly expanded UN sanctions over its nuclear and missile tests.
A defiant North Korea on Sunday said it “fully rejects” newly expanded UN sanctions over its nuclear and missile tests — blasting the measures as “a crafty hostile act.”
“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, ” a foreign ministry spokesman told the state-run KCNA news agency, according to Reuters .
The UN Security Council’s Friday resolution was aimed at “putting a curb on the DPRK’s buildup of nuclear forces, disarming it and causing economic suffocation to it, ” the spokesman said, employing an acronym for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The new penalties slapped on the reclusive communist nation targeted 14 individuals and four entities related to its missile and nuclear programs — condemning the North’s activities “in the strongest possible terms.”
U. S. successfully tests missile defense after North Korea warning
“Beyond diplomatic and financial consequences, the United States remains prepared to counteract North Korean aggression through other means, if necessary, ” UN Ambassador Nikki Haley said after the unanimous vote.
North Korea, however, responded in typical bombast Sunday — with its foreign ministry flack warning it would be “a fatal miscalculation” for countries to “think that they can delay or hold in check the eye-opening development of the (North’s) nuclear forces even for a moment.”
The North’s insolent words came a day after Defense Secretary James Mattis called the country’s nuclear tests “a clear and present danger.”
“The regime’s actions are manifestly illegal under international law, ” the retired general said Saturday during a Singapore defense summit. “There is a strong international consensus that the current situation cannot continue.”
UN gets tougher on North Korea in response to missile tests
Tensions between North Korea and the U. S. have ratcheted up in an escalating exchange of rhetoric since President Trump took office in January.
The North has conducted five nuclear weapons tests since October 2006. The dictatorship, which continues to threaten a sixth, has also launched a handful of missile test-fires since January.
The U. S., meanwhile, successfully intercepted a long-distance warhead last week in a historic test of the country’s defenses against intercontinental-range missiles.
Mattis warned last weekend that war with North Korea would be “probably the worst kind of fighting in most people’s lifetime.”
Mattis brands North Korea a ‘clear and present danger’
“The bottom line is it would be a catastrophic war if this turns into a combat if we’ re not able to resolve this situation through diplomatic means, ” Mattis told CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
