DPRK condemns, rejects UN sanctions resolution over nuke program

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Thursday strongly condemned and rejected a resolution adopted by UN Security Council that included fresh sanctions to curb its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

The DPRK rejects it "as another excess of authority and violation of the DPRK's sovereignty by the UNSC acting under instructions of the U.S.," said an unnamed spokesman for the DPRK foreign ministry in a statement carried by the state media KCNA.

The UN Security Council on Wednesday unanimously adopted a resolution to tighten sanctions on the DPRK in response to the country's fifth and largest nuclear test on Sept. 9.

The council sets an upper limit on the DPRK's coal exporting, saying the total exports from the DPRK do not exceed 400.9 million U.S. dollars or 7.5 million metric tons per year, whichever is lower, starting on Jan. 1, 2017.

In addition, the Security Council bans the sale of copper, nickel, silver, zinc and statues from the DPRK.

The spokesman asserted that Pyongyang's nuclear test was "one of practical steps taken to tackle the nuclear threat and sanctions by the U.S. and other hostile forces desperately taking issue with the exercise of the DPRK's right to self-defense."

Also, the spokesman warned of "tougher countermeasures for self-defense" in response to the newly adopted resolution, which he said denied the DPRK's sovereignty and its rights to existence and development.

He threatened in the statement that the sanctions will inevitably escalate tensions and the United States will be held wholly accountable should the situation on the Korean Peninsula and in the region be pushed to an uncontrollable phase.

On Thursday, China called for the full and balanced implementation of the United Nations Security Council new resolution, stressing that the measures are not intended to produce negative humanitarian consequences in the DPRK, nor affect normal economic and trade activities.

China has always insisted on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the maintenance of peace and stability in the region, and always called for a settlement on the issue through dialogue and consultation, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said at a daily press briefing. Enditem