North Korea:

Pyongyang Will Give Severe Lesson to US

TEHRAN (defapress)- North Korea announced that it is ready to teach the United States a "severe lesson" with its strategic nuclear force if Washington dares opt for military action against Pyongyang.

News ID: 65506

Date: 08 August 2017 - 15:07

In a transcript of a statement by Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho, which was carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency, Pyongyang called new US-led sanctions at the UN Security Council "fabricated" and warned there would be "strong follow-up measures" and acts of justice.

The intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) tests in July proved that the entire US was in its firing range, and those missiles were a legitimate means of self-defense, it added.

The statement also said that the sanctions were a "violent infringement of its sovereignty" that was caused by a "heinous US plot to isolate and stifle" North Korea.

The sanctions will never force the country to give up its push to strengthen its nuclear capability as long as US hostility and nuclear threats persist, it pointed out.

"It's a wild idea to think the DPRK (the Democratic People's Republic of Korea) will be shaken and change its position due to this kind of new sanctions formulated by hostile forces," the statement read.

The statement also accused the UN of abusing its authority.

The warning comes after the UN Security Council passed a resolution slapping sweeping sanctions on the North over its first test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile.

The UNSC members, including Pyongyang’s traditional allies, Beijing and Moscow, voted 15-0 for a partial ban on exports aimed at slashing Pyongyang’s $3 billion foreign revenue by a third.

The sanctions ban all exports of coal, iron and iron ore, lead and lead ore, as well as fish and seafood from the country. They also block North Korea from increasing the number of workers it sends abroad, and prevents new joint ventures with Pyongyang or increasing investments in current ventures.

North Korea has been under UN sanctions over its missile and nuclear development programs since 2006. The sanctions have, however, failed to dissuade the country from pursuing its ballistic missile and nuclear programs.

Pyongyang has announced that it needs to continue developing its missile force as a deterrent against the US and its regional allies’ aggression and expansionism.

North Korea announced late July that Pyongyang had conducted another successful test of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that proved its ability to strike all of America's mainland, stressing that the test was meant to remind the US that it should "wake up from the foolish dream of doing any harm” to the country.

It came hours after the White House announced that US President intends to sign a bill that imposes sanctions on North Korea as well as Iran and Russia.

The House of Representatives of the US Congress had passed a bill to toughen unilateral US sanctions against North Korea as well as Iran and Russia. A total of 419 lawmakers supported the bill, with only three votes against. The Senate also voted 98-2 to send the legislation to US President's desk.

The White House annonced early August that US President has reluctantly signed into law a bill by Congress that imposes new sanctions against Russia, Iran and North Korea.