DPRK rejects new UN Security Council sanctions

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The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) on Wednesday “categorically” rejected the US-drafted, UN Security Council (UNSC) adopted resolution, which imposed new sanctions on the country following their sixth and most powerful nuclear test on September 3.

According to a statement published by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), the foreign ministry of the DPRK described the latest sanctions as “a product of heinous provocation aimed at depriving the DPRK of its legitimate right for self-defense and completely suffocating its state and people through full-scale economic blockade.”

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump downplayed the effectiveness of the latest sanctions.

"We think it's just another very small step, not a big deal," he said. "I don't know if it has any impact but certainly it was nice to get a 15-0 vote, but those sanctions are nothing compared to what ultimately will have to happen."

Tuesday’s resolution – the third UNSC action concerning the Asian country in five weeks – aims at capping the DPRK’s imports of gas, diesel and heavy fuel oil supplies. It also bans the country’s textile exports, which are worth 800 million US dollars, and remittances of DPRK laborers from abroad.

As the US tries to impede the development of the DPRK with the “harshest-ever” sanctions, the DPRK will amplify the efforts to “increase its strength to safeguard the country's sovereignty and right to existence and to preserve peace and security of the region by establishing the practical equilibrium with the US,” the foreign ministry added.

The DPRK Foreign Ministry’s response came one day after Pyongyang's ambassador to the UN Han Tae Song denounced the latest sanctions against Pyongyang and said the US would soon face the “greatest pain” it had ever experienced.