North Korea ‘Fully Rejects’ UNSC Sanctions, Vows to Continue with Nuclear, Missile Programs

North Korea says it “fully rejects” the fresh wave of sanctions imposed on some of its companies and individuals by the United Nations Security Council, vowing to continue with its nuclear and missile programs without a delay.

“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,” said a spokesman for the country’s Foreign Ministry in a statement, which was carried by its official KCNA news agency on Sunday.

 The North’s reaction comes two days after the UN Security Council, in response to a number of missile tests carried out by Pyongyang this year, applied a fresh array of sanctions on the Asian country, which included imposition of asset freeze and a global travel ban on 14 officials.

The imposition of sanctions “is a crafty hostile act with the purpose of putting a curb on the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea]’s buildup of nuclear forces, disarming it and causing economic suffocation to it,” the statement further said.

Pyongyang has so far rejected all the UNSC resolutions against its nuclear and missile programs since 2006, when it carried out its first nuclear test, saying such provocative measures directly infringe its sovereign right to self-defense.

The UNSC has already slapped the North with six rounds of sanctions, but the White House and its allies are pushing for even tougher measures in an attempt to halt the increasing wave of missile tests by Pyongyang.

H.M